Hearts On Fire (Hiccup X Reader)
by LuvStruckWriter
Summary: What will happen when you return to Berk after more than 10 years? You hate dragons, but in a place that's full of them, will you change your mind? Can you really get the guy when you're stuck in a love triangle? (Rating may change dependent on later direction.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey girls, this is an all Abby story! Now, I seriously want to know what you all think. This is my first CharacterXReader story so I hope it goes well. I have chapter 2 ready to post and chapter 3 ready to be uploaded. I really have to have ****_AT LEAST 3 REVIEWS_********before I decide to post chapter 2. So review! Also, sorry ladies, for the story to work the way I want, you have to look like Astrid. Other things will still be your choice.**

**Disclaimer: I will only say this once and if this changes, which it sadly won't, I will let you know. I OWN NONE OF THE CHARACTERS! The only parts I own are the storyline, the family characters, and...you MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **

**Enjoy!**

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_You carefully stepped off the boat looking around. You hadn't seen this place in years. You hadn't seen these PEOPLE in years. You'd always refused to come back when your grandparents came to visit for Snoggletog, but that was because you knew you were old enough to live alone for a couple weeks. It wasn't hard to toss a few logs on the fire or catch a few fish. Plus, you had skills with a sword or axe. You could feed yourself and tend to the house alone and no one in your village ever questioned that. Still, you had to admit that you missed your sister. You two were inseparable when you were very young, but after your parents had opted to send you to live with your grandparents, you had drifted apart. You didn't even visit each other. Most of the kids in the village had never known you even existed. _

_As you started to wander through town you heard someone yelling as they came from behind you. "Astrid! Hey, wait up!"_

_You stopped and looked around hoping to spot Astrid, but seconds after you halted, a pair of arms turned you around and hugged you before planting a quick kiss on your lips. Shock crossed your face for a moment before you slapped the boy as hard as you could. He fell to the ground holding his cheek, his brown hair hanging in his green eyes as he looked up at you surprised. You were about to let him have a piece of your mind when you heard your name being called._

_"(Name)!? Is that really you?"_

_You spun around to see who it was. Astrid was walking quickly down the hill, "Of course, who else has a face like yours?" you ask jokingly. "If it wasn't me you'd probably be having an out-of-body experience." You both laughed and hugged each other._

_The boy on the ground looked up at the two of you, "What is going on here?"_

_You both turned to face him. Astrid smiled down at him, "Hiccup, meet my sister, (Name)."_

_She helped him up and he dusted himself off. "I am very confused. How come...When..."_

_"She's been living with our grandparents on our mother's side since we were four. That's probably why you don't remember her," Astrid said knowing exactly what he was thinking._

_Hiccup put his hand on his jaw checking it out, "Well, she's definitely your sister."_

_You cleared your throat trying to gain their attention, "Well, not that this isn't fun, but I do have one question for you, Hiccup was it?" You folded your arms and shifted your weight to your hip._

_His eyes shot open wide and his face went bright red, "Oh, uh, that. I'm really sorry. I thought you were Astrid, and I just...I'm very sorry."_

_You couldn't help but laugh. You hadn't been upset really. You just wanted to see what he would do. You had to give him credit though. You hadn't been to Berk in over a decade. "Don't worry about it," you said with a chuckle, "It's understandable." Turning back to Astrid you spoke again, "Anyway, we should be getting home. I'll have to talk to Dad sooner or later, right?"_

_Astrid chuckled, trying to disregard the conversation between you and Hiccup, "Be ready. He may not be in the best of moods since you never come home, but that may just make him happy to see you. Who knows?"_

_You walked with Astrid as she led you to your home. Everything was different than what you remembered. It was small, but not bad for the small family. You knew that your mother had passed away a long time ago, but you never bothered to come home. You didn't want to see your father or sister at their weakest, and if you were in a different place, you wouldn't be reminded of her all the time. The door swung open and your father stared down at you. Thoughts ran across your mind as you tried to gauge his reaction. _

_After a few moments, he wrapped you in a tight hug, much to your surprise. He had never been the soft type. Once a child was old enough to hold an axe, they were fighting and training to kill dragons. It didn't matter to him if you cut yourself of tripped. He would tell you, "Rub some dirt in it," and tell you to keep going. That's how you and Astrid got so strong. Weakness was not allowed._

_When the man released you, you could see the tears in his eyes before he quickly wiped them away. "Well," he said composing himself again, "glad to have you home, tomorrow you can help your sister with her chores. It's getting warmer and she'll be needing some help." With that he walked away from the house and through the village._

_Astrid led you up to your room which had recently been furnished, "I'm right next door if you need any help. Tomorrow I'll bring you with me so you can remember where everything is. For now, you may want to get some sleep. After all, you've had it rough for the last couple months." She hugged you and left the room closing the door behind her._

_She was right. After you had been sent to live with your grandparents, you'd relied on them. It had been the middle of winter when they'd gotten sick, and now they were gone. No one was as close to them as you were. It seemed that everyone who loved you was disappearing. Your mother died, your grandparents died, and you'd expected to come home to find either your sister or father dead as well. You place your head on the pillow listening to the sounds of the village. You heard the roar of a dragon not far off and glared at the window that was already out of light. Before you knew it, you had drifted off into sleep._

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**Review if you girls want to see more! I've got more ready and hope you look forward to it! This one is ****_SUPER_********short and the next one is 3 times as long. I won't add another chapter until I get 3 or more reviews! I even count PMing me with questions as a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

(S/A): sword/axe as preferred weapon

(s/a): remaining of the two

You cried over your grandparents bodies. The freeze had caused them to get sick, and now they were gone. "Please, don't leave me," you pleaded as your tears hit their cheeks. A comforting hand rested on your shoulder and you looked to see who it belonged to.

Your mother smiled down, "Hello, (Name). I wish you would come home more often. Maybe, then you would-" Her words were cut off as a dragon flew down onto the lawn outside. It roared at you and your mother stepped in the way. "Not my daughter you-" she cried out before the dragon swatted her away with its claws. It grabbed her in its jaws and threw her in the air before catching her in it's jaws and swallowing her.

A scream ripped from your throat.

"(Name)! (NAME)!" You swung your arm trying to get rid of what was shaking you. Astrid had ducked just in time to miss your arm. "Are you alright?" she asked as you tried to level out your breathing. You could only nod. "Don't worry. Dad's gone already."

You looked around noticing how much light streamed in already. You'd slept for a long time, but you felt like you'd just fallen asleep. "Thanks, I should really be getting up anyway. What do you need me to help you with?" you asked trying to get your mind away from the nightmare.

Astrid gave you a wary look but went along with it, "I've finished my chores. If you want to come with me you're welcome to come. I have a few things to take around town. Then I'm going to go see if Hiccup needs any help."

You nodded, "I'll be ready in just a minute."

Astrid nodded and left your room with a small smile. As she left you saw her give you a concerned look as the door closed. She was too worried. You'd been on your own for months. Once in a while you had nightmares about your grandparents, but that was expected when something traumatic happened. Jumping from your bed you ran over and picked up your bag that you'd forgotten you'd even brought with you. Digging around, you found the wooden comb you'd carved. You pulled it through your hair a few times after unbraiding it. When it was rebraided, you tied the end, changed into some clothes Astrid had laid out for you, and headed outside. You noticed your hair was a little longer than Astrid's, but you kept your bangs the same length. Your (f/c) shirt was sleeveless, much like Astrid's, but was solid rather than striped. You also kept an axe and sword attached to your back. You wore a leather studded skirt and pair of pants with your normal brown dragon hide boots.

Astrid looked at you as you walked out, "We're going to confuse him again aren't me?" you laughed.

"If we weren't twins we wouldn't be able to. It's a perk to confuse people." She slapped you on the shoulder and walked beside you, "I need to stop at Gobber's to drop pick up my axe and something of Hiccup's, drop off his things at his house, and then we'll go meet up with him. You alright with that?"

You nodded, "Whatever you need. If I'm not hanging out with you, I might as well be sitting in my room all day."

After receiving her axe and some kind of metal spring and leather strap for Hiccup, you had set off towards his house. "I should probably let you know that Hiccup is Stoick's son."

Your eyes widened, "You mean that...twig...is the chief's son?" You couldn't hold back a laugh. None of it made sense. You would have never guessed that.

Astrid had to smile as she walked up to the door. "I'll be right back." She ran in and was back in a few minutes. "Alright, now we can actually go have some fun."

You chuckled as you thought about some of the kids she knew when they were young. She knew none of them would remember her, but she could vaguely remember another set of twins, a larger kid that always had his nose in a book, and one who would always pull yours and Astrid's hair, then there was Hiccup. You could remember him well now that you knew who he was. When you'd made your way out of town you had to ask, "So, I've been thinking this all morning. Are you and Hiccup...?"

Astrid had to smile, "Yeah we are."

You burst out laughing, "That makes so much more sense!"

"What does?"

You brushed your bangs out of your face, "Well, yesterday he was looking for you and thought I was you, so he kissed me!" You laughed hard and your sister stopped in her tracks.

"He WHAT?!" Her fists clenched and she gritted her teeth before sprinting toward some kind of arena. You followed as closely behind as you could but were still behind. You could hear Astrid yelling as you walled the last portion of the distance, "HICCUP! YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN!...DON'T TRY THAT! WHY DID YOU KISS HER?!"

At about this time you walked in. As you did, a kid was thrown across the room by a dragon. Immediately you pulled out your (S/A) and charged the beast. Several other dragons cried out as you looked around. You swung wildly in each of their directions warning them to stay back. Something hit you in the back and you landed flat on your stomach with someone on your back as Hiccup kicked you (S/A) away from you. "What are you doing?! They'll kill us!" You thrashed trying to get the other person off your back.

"No they won't," Hiccup said as he put his hands up in front of the Monstrous Nightmare. It started to relax slowly.

"Good job, Hiccup! Now take it down before it gets the better of you!" you say from your position on the ground.

"No! We don't kill them, not anymore."

"What are you talking about?! If you don't, they won't hesitate to kill you first!" You rolled causing the boy on top of you to end up beneath you and you ran for you (S/A) snatching it up and swinging at the Monstrous Nightmare. It roared and caught itself on fire. You rolled as it shot at you.

"Astrid! Ruffnut! Tuffnut! Hold her down! Snotlout! Control Hookfang!" Hiccup yelled.

You were tackled again as a boy ran in front of you and waved his arms. You had three people holding you down. "Get off or we're all going to die!" None of them responded. You kept your eyes on the Monstrous Nightmare as the boy in front of you slowly moved closer. Eventually he was right in front of it and he reached up to its nose stroking it. You looked on in complete confusion.

"We don't kill dragons here anymore. They're our friends, not our enemies," Hiccup said as he knelt down in front of you.

"You can't trust them. They'll only turn on you when they get hungry." Your eyes burned with a hate for the creatures.

"No, they won't. I should have warned you before we got here. This is my fault. I forgot that you didn't know about this," Astrid said as she got off your back. She had your (S/A) in her hand.

The other two got off you and you got up eying the dragons. You didn't trust them in the slightest. "Just because they haven't killed you yet, doesn't mean they won't."

"And if we train them right, they won't want to," Hiccup said as he walked over to a black dragon.

You couldn't believe what you were seeing when he climbed on the dragon's back. "That's a Nightfury!" You couldn't even form any more logical phrases.

"Yes, he is. And he's probably the most gently dragon of all of them." He scratched the dragon's head who gave you a smile showing he had no teeth.

"Don't try that trick with me you black demon. I know you have teeth. I've seen my fair share of Nightfuries." You brushed yourself off as you glared at the beast.

"He's smiling at you because he likes you. If he wanted anyone dead, he would have killed me a long time ago." Hiccup got down and walked over to you gently tugging you by the arm. "Just get closer and I promise you'll be fine." With Astrid tugging your other arm, you slowly started to move toward the dragon. After several minutes, you were an arm's reach away. "Now, put your hand out."

You hesitated, expecting some kind of cruel trick, but you reached your hand out looking away. Something pressed against your hand and you slowly turned your head. The Nightfury's nose was pressed against your palm. A smile spread across your face, and you slowly petted his nose.

"Great! Now, you're ready to ride!" Hiccup said as he stepped toward the dragon's back.

"Oh, no! There is no way you are getting me on that thing!"

Astrid pushed you toward Hiccup, "Don't worry. Hiccup's the best dragon rider in Berk! I'd give you a ride if it weren't for the fact that Stormfly's not in flying condition."

You looked down and noticed Hiccup's foot, or lack there of, as he locked it into position. "Oh no! Nuh uh! There is no way on this Earth!"

Hiccup laughed, "Don't worry. I didn't get this from flying or any of the dragons around here."

"I don't care if it was from a dragon that lives a million miles from here!" You stepped away and Astrid stopped you.

"I promis you'll be safe." She gave you a comforting smile and nudged you toward the dragon.

You huffed, "Fine, but if this goes badly, I'm done."

Astrid smiled, "Deal."

You reached up and took Hiccup's offered hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hey guys, Abby here! Just wanted to say thanks for the _****_AWESOME_****_ response! I was hoping to get a few more review, HINT HINT! Anyway, I'm trying to update everyday, but if you have any ideas for this story I will totally give you credit, but I'm having trouble keeping this interesting. Enjoy Chapter 3!_**

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"I promise you'll be safe." Astrid gave you a comforting smile and nudged you toward the dragon.

You huffed, "Fine, but if this goes badly, I'm done."

She smiled, "Deal."

You reached up and took Hiccup's offered hand. You wrapped your arms around his waist trying not to show how scared you were. "Toothless, listen. Slow." The dragon grunted and his muscles started to coil. "Oh no." Hiccup looked over his shoulder, "I'm really sorry about this."

"What are you talking ab-" you were cut off as the dragon took off at full speed up in the air. Your arms tightened around Hiccup crushing the air from his lungs. After several moments the dragon slowed above the clouds. "Oh boy," Hiccup said, not helping to reassure you. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," he said to the dragon just before it dropped into a downward death spiral.

You screamed at the top of your lungs believing the dragon was willing to kill itself to take out both you and Hiccup in one shot. You could practically see your life flashing before your eyes. You could see yourself and Astrid as kids teasing the others, your father teaching you to swing a(n) (S/A) properly, and your grandparents in so many wonderful memories.

Just when you thought you were about to take your last breath and hit the water that had been some thousand feet below, Toothless's wings spread and his claws grazed the top of the water. As the dragon slowed to a glide, you removed your arms from around Hiccup, "I'm done with this crazy beast. I want off."

Hiccup shook his head, "Just let us get you back to the docks and you can get off."

You could see the docks coming into view in the distance, "Nope. I refuse to deal with this creature any longer." You swung your leg over Toothless's back. "Bye!" you said before sliding off and into the water only a few feet below. As your head popped up out of the water, you could see Hiccup trying to turn Toothless around. You glared at him and began swimming toward the docks. It didn't matter how far it was, you wouldn't be getting back on that dragon.

Upon reaching the docks, you climbed up to see Hiccup leaning on Toothless waiting for you. He smiled, "You know we could have at least flown you to shore."

You shook your head, "Oh no! I'm not getting back on that thing."

He pursed his lips, "Well, at least let us walk you back to the academy. Astrid and the others are waiting for us."

Now, it was your turn to purse your lips. You had to think about that. Was it really safe to have the creature that was trying to kill you walk beside you? You folded your arms, "Fine, but that monster better stay at least ten feet from me."

Hiccup chuckled, "Alright. You'd better get some dry clothes though first."

Looking down you realized how right he was. It would take a few hours before you would dry, and walking wouldn't be very comfortable in wet clothes. You led the way back to your house as you tried to keep Toothless away. Not only were you mad at him, but your engrained instincts to kill dragons only made it that much harder not to lash out. When you were in dry clothes, you walked back out and couldn't spot Hiccup or Toothless. "Must have left without me. Good riddance to the monster!" You steeped off your front porch steps and heard a sound from behind you. As you turned you were tackled to the ground. Seeing Toothless on top of you, you reached over your shoulder and pulled out your (s/a) swinging wildly. He stepped down on your wrist forcing you to drop your weapon. "GET OFF YOU..." you began spouting off curses at the beast struggling to get him to let you go.

"Toothless! Let her up!" Hiccup said as he came into the yard. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I, Bud?" Toothless stepped back releasing you, "I'm really sorry about that. I don't know why he's acting like this. He normally doesn't do that."

He offered his hand to you and you swatted it away, "If you think this is funny or some kind of joke then just stay away from me!" You stood up and stormed off toward the academy.

Hiccup caught up to you, "I really don't know what his problem is. Even when we took Astrid on her first ride, he didn't go that crazy. I'm extremely sorry about that."

You spun around, "I don't care if you know what's going on. All I care about is keeping those monsters away from me. I'm not going to die by the claw of one of those demons!" You spun back around and took off toward the academy knowing that Hiccup couldn't catch you with his false foot and small stature.

Upon reaching it you walked up the surrounding stairs to watch from a safe distance. Most of the others were practicing attacks with their dragons. The Monstrous Nightmare was spitting fire directly at its target while the Zippleback was surrounding a Gronckle in gas before lighting it. After a few minutes, Astrid called them off. "Alright, it's time for some flying practice."

"What about you and Hiccup? He's supposed to be leading us, and Stormfly isn't ready yet. She still needs to rest," a larger boy said as he patted the Grockle's head.

"I'll be watching from the ground." She began giving them directions, "Now, I what I want you all to do is a simple dive, pulling up at last second."

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. "Toothless can do that with flying color," you said to yourself.

"That's why I took him home."You jumped up and spun at the unexpected voice. Hiccup stood there with a solemn smile. "What are you doing back here? Aren't you supposed to be training them?"

"Yeah, but if you're going to live in Berk, you can't be so against dragons. Most of the people here have a dragon in their home, including your family." Hiccup waved his hand to get you to step back out of sight of the others. "Stormfly will be home in a couple days and you'll have to get used to it."

You kicked a stone and paced, "I'll find a way to deal with it when it comes time."

Hiccup scrubbed his face with his hands, "You don't understand. If you can't get used to it now, you'll have everyone after you when attack a dragon. Around here it isn't acceptable anymore."

You started to get defensive and your muscles tensed, "Well, maybe if it's not acceptable for me to act on instinct and what has been engrained in my skull, then maybe I should leave." You started making your way toward the steps as the others walked out of the academy.

"(Name), wait!" You turn around and look at him. "Please, just watch them fly. I know you won't be disappointed."

You closed your eyes taking a deep breath to calm your angry nerves. "I'm not sticking round for long."

Hiccup sat down on the top step and watched as the dragons took of with their riders. You sat down beside him and watched as the dragons flew gracefully. "You probably think of them as nothing but heartless reptiles, but if you take the time to know them, you'll find that not a single one of them would attack without a reason."

You took a deep breath watching them in awe as the sun was setting behind them. The beautiful glow seemed to make every movement more elegant. The Monstrous Nightmare dove perfectly pulling up at last second. "Wow."

Hiccup smiled, "If you give them a chance, they can be your best friends. You learn that they don't judge you, they rely on you, and they'd do anything to protect you." He chuckled at you noticing your amazement.

At his chuckling, you stood up, "I've seen enough. I'm going home. Let Astrid know." You walked down the stairs and nearly ran into Toothless at the bottom. "Demonic monster!" You stormed around and back toward the village.

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**_Review and let me know what you think!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hey guys! Abby here! I'm trying to get all my chapters written for this styory this weekend, but I don't get wifi back for 2 days. This is the only chapter I'll be putting up until then. I promise I will get all the other chapters I've missed this weekend up on that day when I get home. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I intend to tell you all thank you in the start of the next time I get around to a new chapter! I hope you guys like this new chapter!_**

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You closed the door behind you and threw yourself on your bed with a growl. Those creatures ruined everything. If it hadn't been for them, you might have still had your mother, you might not have left, and you wouldn't feel so secluded. You were the only one that made sense here. You'd be smarter to try to train wolves than dragons. At least a wolf was small enough for a man to handle on his own. You stared at your ceiling for about an hour before finally deciding to move. You sat up and moved to stare out the window at the village. You heard Astrid coming up the stairs and smirked glad to have someone around that wasn't completely against you.

A dragon screeched outside as you saw the others coming back with their dragons. Hiccup glanced up at you giving you a halfhearted smile and wave. You rolled your eyes and slammed the wooden shutters.

You growled and turned around to see Astrid leaning on your door frame. She didn't say anything until she was sitting on your bed waving you over. You grudgingly got up and moved over to sit in front of her. "You know no one is mad at you, right? We understand that you aren't used to dragons being around. That's something that may take time to get used to."

You nodded, "I'm not worried about anyone being mad at me. I'm upset that everything is immediately being forced on me. I mean, you and Hiccup forced me to ride a dragon today. I just got here yesterday."

Astrid now nodded, "Yeah, that was our fault. We shouldn't have rushed you." She bowed her head shamefully. "You know, I think you'll find your place around here before long."

You smiled at her, "You really think so?"

She pushed your shoulder with her fist smirking, "Of course!" A mischievous smile spread across her face, "After all, how many people could go from trying to kill a dragon to riding one in five minutes flat?"

You pulled the pillow from behind you and hit her over the head with it. Laughing she snatched it from you and counterattacked. A war waged as the two of you started beating each other with pillows. Before long you were hanging upside-down off the side of the bed as Astrid continued to hit you with both pillows now. "Okay! Okay! Mercy!"

"Well, look at this!" a voice said from the doorway. You both looked up to see Hiccup standing there with a smile. Astrid gave you another mischievous look, and you knew what she was thinking. She pulled you back up on the bed handing you a pillow. The moment you were upright, you and Astrid chucked the pillows at Hiccup. Astrid's hit the frame of the door, while yours slapped him in the face knocking him on his back. "Oof! You've got a real arm! Remind me not to try to fight you!"

You breathed on your nails and polished them on your shirt. "It's a gift. Now, what are you doing here?"

He climbed up and dusted himself off, "I came to apologize again for what happened today. I was trying to show something onto you that you weren't ready for. That ride with Toothless was never supposed to turn out that way either." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Plus, I'm sorry for mistaking you for your sister yesterday."

You smiled, "Apologies accepted. Why don't we start over?" You stood up from the bed and walked over to him with your hand out, "(Name) Hofferson."

He chuckled and accepted your hand, "Hiccup Haddock"

"Now, I assume I wasn't the only reason you're here." You turned to your sister and tipped your head toward the door signaling her to go.

"Thank you, (Name)." She walked past you and slapped your shoulder.

They closed your door before walking next door to her bedroom to talk. You flopped on your bed and stared at the ceiling. After a few minutes, when you were just starting to drift off, you heard Astrid and Hiccup yelling at each other. Then, the door slammed and Hiccup stomped down the steps with alternating thumps and metal clanks, and slammed the front door as he left.

You cautiously got up and walked to Astrid's room listening at the door. You could hear muffled sobs on the other side. "Astrid?" you asked hoping she'd hear you. With no response, you opened the door to see her curled up on her bed her face buried in a pillow. You quietly walked over to her and sat on the edge. She sat up and looked at you will already puffy red eyes. Silently, you wrapped your arms around her. You knew that were she with anyone else, she would have pushed them away, but it was you. She let her head fall to your shoulder as you held her.

It seemed to be hours that passed, and it was possible that it was true. When her head came up from your shoulder, she wiped the moisture from her face and have you a halfhearted smile. You two didn't have to speak to know what was happening. Even a child could piece things together. They'd broken up. They were no longer Astrid and Hiccup. Now, they were Astrid...and Hiccup.

Astrid's voice came out gravelly from her constant sobbing, "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to keep you up."

You shook your head, "I was still up." A comforting smile graced your features, "I'm always there when my sister needs me."

She scoffed, "As long as it doesn't have to do with dragons, right?" Both of you chuckled.

You placed a hand on her shoulder. "If it had to do with a dragon, I'd still be there for you. You're the only sister I'm ever going to get, so if it makes you feel better," you paused taking a deep breath, "then, I'll learn to trust the dragons."

Astrid stared at you in shock not believing what she'd just heard. "A-Are you serious?!"

You pursed your lips and nodded. If it made her quit crying and made everything else a little better, it would be worth it in the end. "I'll do it, but we both need some sleep. I'll help you with chores tomorrow, and only then can we work on my dragon desensitization." You smirked and tried to push the fear in your stomach as far away as possible.

She smiled at you, "Sounds like a good plan. I'll let you get back to bed. Good night, (Name)."

You gave her one more smile before getting up to leave her room, "Good night, Astrid."


	5. Baby Steps

A few hours later, Astrid woke you up to help with her chores. After gathering some extra firewood, helping some older villagers with their firewood and water, and even hauling water up to some of the dragons, which you were less than happy with, you had finally finished and were on your way to the academy.

You stared her down as she let Stormfly out of the back and brought her into the main part of the academy but kept her on the other side. "I'll stay over here with Stormfly, and when you're ready, you can come over. How's that sound?"

You nodded and tried to keep calm, "That sounds good." Astrid had been smart enough to make you leave your weapons at home, and she'd talked to you about dragons on the way to the academy. You stared at them and after half an hour you crossed about half of the room and stood in the middle. Your sister continued to pretend you weren't there as she cared for her ill and injured dragon. It took another hour before you could convince yourself to get a little closer. You crossed three-quarters of the room and were now about ten yards from the beast.

Astrid smiled at you, "Bet you'd never thought you'd come this close to a dragon without a weapon, did you?"

You shook your head, not taking your eyes off the dragon, "Never in my life."

"Now, when you're ready you can touch her. Scratch under her chin and you'll be her new best friend," she said as she did as she suggested. The dragon fell to the ground in a state of utter bliss.

You took a step back still not comfortable with any part of this. "I really don't know about this, Astrid."

"You'll be fine. Just go at your own pace and everything will be alright." She stepped over behind you and watched.

You sat on the ground and watched the dragon. It would be a while before you felt comfortable enough to get any closer. "It's going to be a long afternoon."

Astrid smiled, "I'll be back. I'm going to go get some food and bring it back."

You looked at her in shock, "You're going to leave me here with this monster?!"

She smiled, "Yeah, but I promise I won't be long. Stormfly isn't even supposed to be coming out here. I'm surprised she can even walk. There's no way she could chase you if you tried to get away. She can't lift her tail either. You're more safe alone with Stormfly than you would be with any of the other dragons and their riders." She slapped you on the back and walked out of the academy.

You stood up and stared at the dragon. She looked back at you before curling up on the ground. "You think you're going to convince me that you're pathetic and injured? Think again. I'm not going to fall for it."

You both stared at each other for several minutes. She turned her head to look at a barrel of fish that was spilled. She stretched her neck and moved her feet trying to get closer, but she couldn't move. You watched her struggle for about ten minutes before getting up and walking a wide circle around her. "Is this what you want?" you asked picking up one of the fish. You tossed one getting it close to her, but not within her reach. She stretched her neck as far as she could, but she just couldn't reach. "Let's try that again, huh girl?" You tossed another and it landed in the same spot. She tried again in vain to reach the fish. "One more time." As you reached into the barrel you found it empty. Your eyes traveled to the fish on the ground in front of the dragon and then to the beast. She gave you pleading eyes hoping you'd take pity on her.

Thoughts raced through your mind. No way am I going over there, but she's hungry. She's Astrid's, so I shouldn't have to feed her, but Astrid wasn't back yet. The poor girl is hungry! But...But... You stared at the Deadly Nadder. "Fine."

You took a few steps closer very slowly. It wasn't worth getting her hand bitten off if you were going to help the poor thing. A few more steps and you could reach the fish. You reached out your arm and dropped the fish within her reach. She gently picked it up and slowly swallowed it. She looked at the other fish and stared up at you. You slowly picked it up and stepped closer, "Come on girl. I know you won't hurt me." You were within arm's reach of the dragon with the fish in your hand. You knelt down in front of her, "Open up girl." You brought the fish forward and she opened her mouth. You held the fish by its tail as she closed her jaws slowly around it. "Good job." You patted her head and started scratching under her chin.

Suddenly, you hear an eruption of sound from the other side of the room, "Woo hoo! Finally!" All of the others were watching you from the top of the wall around the sides. They all came running down the stairs and in to you.

Astrid came running up to you, "I knew you'd do it if I left you alone with her!"

You went red at your sister's praise, "I guess I'm just stubborn when it comes to being other people." You looked around at the other dragons that had followed their riders in, "Though I am a little wary with so many dragons around." You chuckled nervously as they ushered their dragons back a bit.

Hiccup came up to you, "Now, it looks like all we have left to do is teach you and find you a dragon of your own."

Your smile fell at seeing him. He'd hurt your sister. That wasn't something that was forgivable. You stood up tall, "If I'm going to have a dragon, I'll find it myself. I don't need your help."

He looked surprised. "Well, um, yeah. I was just trying to-"

"I don't care what you were doing. Stay away from me, and stay away from Astrid. Got it?" You were angry that he was pretending nothing had happened.

He dipped his head, "Can I talk to you two? Please?"

"No, you can't. You leave her alone, and don't mess with me. She may try to act like things are fine, but I'm not going to beat around a bush. I'm going to tell you to back off." You stepped closer to him, "So, back off before I make you."

Astrid put her hand on your shoulder, "Don't (Name). There's nothing here to start a fight over." She got Stormfly to stand up and slowly led her back to her den.

You turned back to Hiccup and glared. No one would hurt your sister if you had anything to say about it. You knew how it felt for the floor to be pulled out from under you. It wasn't fun. Astrid deserved better than that. You stormed out of the academy.


	6. Damsel's Revenge

You didn't know where to go. Somehow, you found your way down onto the beach. Following it, you found yourself on a perfect white sand beach. The sun wasn't setting yet, but you knew it would be soon. Sitting down on the soft sand, you stared at the horizon. It slowly began to sink below the water. You were entranced by the beauty of it all until you felt something press against your arm. You turned your head to see a small dragon nudging you. You screamed and jumped up walking backwards. You heard a small sound as you bumped into another dragon. You screamed again and turned to see both of them and backed up again. Keeping your eyes on them you started to move faster to get away. Your heel caught on something causing a flurry of screams as you fell back. With a splash, you landed in the water completely drenched, but you continued to back up deeper into the water.

Laughter came from the treeline well away from the water's edge. Toothless stepped out with a laughing Hiccup in his saddle. "I can't believe you are that scared by dragons!"

Your teeth chattered in the quickly cooling air, "I'm glad you th-think it's funny!" Quickly getting out, you started making your way back to the village.

Hiccup jumped off and cut you off, "At least let us give you a ride back. You'll get sick by walking in wet clothes."

You pushed him aside, "I'd r-rather get sick th-than ride with y-you!"

He chuckled, "(Name), please? I know you're mad at me and so is Astrid, but I know she wouldn't forgive me if I let you walk back in the cold."

You kept walking, wrapping your arms around yourself, "I d-don't care! I h-hope she t-tears you ap-part!"

He got back on Toothless and cut you off again. "(Name)! I'm not letting you walk. Now, get on." He held his hand out persistently.

You stepped back shivering. You didn't want to be anywhere near that dragon or Hiccup for that matter. "N-no!"

Hiccup jumped off, "Go home, Bud. We'll be back soon." Toothless went off down the beach.

"C-call him b-back! I d-don't want t-to w-walk with y-you either!" You continued trying to walk the way that Toothless had just run off to. You couldn't move fast with how much you were shivering. With no sunlight, your clothes would stay wet. The breeze coming off the water did nothing to help you retain heat.

Something draped over your shoulders. You looked to see Hiccup putting his vest over you. "It's not much, but it'll hopefully keep you a little warmer."

You pulled it tight around yourself without a word and tried to keep walking. Even with his vest, you could feel the cold creeping in. Your teeth chattered and you could barely keep moving. You knew it wouldn't be much longer before you couldn't walk at all. Your limbs were practically numb along with most of the rest of your body. Your knees buckled under you and you landed in the dirt along a ridge.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called and then whistled. In a few short moments the black dragon bounded over. "We've gotta get her home, Bud." He hoisted you onto Toothless's saddle and got on behind you somehow latching his prosthetic foot into place. You could feel yourself being bumped around before the ride became perfectly smooth. It took only a couple minutes to reach town. Toothless bumped to a stop and Hiccup immediately dismounted bringing you down to the ground. "Watch her, Toothless." You heard his footsteps as he ran a short distance. "Astrid! Astrid!" he whisper yelled. A very small rattle was heard, like a rock on a wooden floor.

Astrid returned his whisper yell, "What do you want?! I'm in the middle of-"

"That doesn't matter now! Help me get (Name) upstairs!" With that you could hear his steps return and felt his arms wrap around you. Astrid must have been opening the doors for him to keep your father from hearing. When they'd gotten you to your bedroom, Hiccup gently placed you on the bed.

One of them, Astrid you assumed, had shuffled out for a minute but returned as quick as she could. "Thank you, Hiccup. I'll let you know how she's doing in the morning. There isn't much else you can do tonight."

"Thanks Astrid. I'll stop by in the morning after your dad goes down to the dock."

"Alright. Take care." His steps trailed off as he left. Astrid closed the window and the door before coming to your side. "(Name)? Can you hear me?" You nodded stiffly and opened your eyes. She smiled down at you and brushed the wet hair from your face. "We need to get you into some warm, dry clothes. Here, these are some of my winter clothes. They should get you warm in no time."

You slowly started to move trying to sit up. Astrid helped you change into the clothes and tucked you into the blankets. "Th-thank you, Astrid."

She smiled as she stood in the doorway, "Get some sleep. If you need anything I'm here. I'll come check on you later."

You smiled and watched as she closed the door. Your eyes slipped closed and before you knew it, you were sound asleep.

Something stroked your hair. No, someone. Someone was stroking your hair. Your eyes fluttered. A shape slowly took form. A mess of brown hair, a green shirt, green eyes. Hiccup sat in front of you smiling. "Good morning."

You rolled over, "Go away."

He laughed, "That's no way to greet someone who saved your life."

You grunted and stared at your closed window, "I'll thank you when I'm not mad."

"Alright," he said with a chuckle, "but I should warn you. I'm not leaving until Astrid gets back from doing her chores."

You growled and buried yourself deeper in the blankets. "I'm feeling better, so leave."

"Right now, I'm more scared of your sister. I think she'd personally drown me if I didn't watch you."

You flipped the blankets off and stood up, "I'm fine. You can leave. In fact, you should leave so I can get dressed."

He smiled and held up his hands in surrender, "Fair enough. I'll be down stairs." He walked out closing the door behind himself.

You scrounged around your room searching for your clothes. All you had left in your bag was a shirt with one of the shoulders missing. It had been torn off when you were fighting a dragon. Finding it to be better than walking around in Astrid's pajamas all day, you put the shirt on letting the torn fabric hang across the chest and back. Digging, you found another skirt that went to your knees. The only other important piece of your normal outfit was nowhere to be found. You didn't have a spare pair of pants. "Well, looks like I'll just have to be really careful today." Your boots were missing as well. You only had one pair and they were no where to be seen. Come to think of it, neither were the rest of the clothes you had been wearing last night. Astrid must have taken them down to put in front of the fire to dry. At least you hoped she had.

You opened your bedroom door and started going down the stairs. You stopped in the middle of the staircase. Hiccup was down there. You looked over your outfit and grimaced, "Oh well. I need my clothes," you whispered to yourself. You stood tall and walked down the steps. Hiccup was staring at the fire when you walked in. Sure enough, your clothes were laid out on the floor in front of the fire along with your boots.

He watched you as you walked over to the fire. You crouched down testing to see if your clothes were dry. Your shirt and skirt were still too wet, but your pants and boots seemed to have dried well. Feeling Hiccup's eyes on you, you smiled and picked them up standing up carefully. You sauntered out of the room and up the stairs with a little more swing in your hips than was necessary. You could tell as you stood at the top for a moment that he had watched you. You could hear him whistle quietly to himself, "Wow."

You smiled and quietly slipped into your room. Once you'd put the pants and boots on you came back out and down the steps with a little bounce in your step. "Well, I'm going to go help Astrid, so you're free to go."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, you did have a close call last night." He stepped in front of you blocking the door.

You folded your arms, "Why are you always getting in my way? I'm fine. Now, move before I move you myself." You glared him down without a hint of weakness.

His eyes widened a bit, "I don't think you should be out working, but I'd rather keep my head than fight you."

You smiled with pride, "Thank you." Just before you closed the door behind you, you turned back, "You know, you're pretty smart if you know not to fight me."

"I've been hit by Astrid, and if you have any of the same strength, then there's no discussion on who would win between the two of us." He shrugged and followed out the door behind you.


	7. Lessons

At some point in looking for Astrid, you ended up losing Hiccup. Astrid was dragging back some logs for the fire. With keeping logs on it this morning to dry your clothes, you'd nearly depleted your supply that should have lasted several days. Running over, you snapped up several logs from her, "I'm not letting you clean up all of my mess. I should be the one getting the wood."

Astrid chuckled, "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

"I definitely am. I can't thank you enough for helping me." You gave her a grateful smile.

"I'm not the one you should be thanking." She tossed an extra log on a neighbor's pile before running back to the house. "You should be thanking Hiccup. If he hadn't been flying with Toothless, you'd be curled up in a frozen ball on the ridge."

You frowned and kicked the door closed, "Just because he brought me back doesn't mean I wouldn't have survived on my own."

"You'd be a block of ice, and you know it." She started splitting the logs as she piled them next to the fireplace.

"He's too full of himself. I'm not giving him that satisfaction." You turned toward the stairs when you heard her laughter.

"You're the one that's full of herself!" She put her axe down as you turned around. "You've been here, what, three, four days? You've already made a dragon mad at you, refused to let anyone try to help you, and even disregard the fact that a great guy saved your life." She walked up the stairs leaving you to finish the logs.

When the logs were cut, you went up to Astrid's room. You listened at her door but heard nothing. You knocked quietly, "Astrid? Talk to me. Please?"

You listened as she walked to the door and pulled it open. She stared at you, "What?"

You felt your head and shoulders drop, "I'm sorry. I opened my big mouth once again. That's a lesson I'll never learn." You scrubbed your face with your hands. "I'm not one to open up because everything gets pulled out from under me. I don't want to put distance between us again."

Astrid reached out her arms to hug you, "As long as you're here you couldn't push me away if you tried."

"Thanks Astrid."

"But you do have to go talk to Hiccup." She gave you a mischievous smirk.

You groaned, "Why?"

"Because he's the only other person who can help you get used to being around dragons without terrifying you." She folded her arms and leaned on her door frame.

You rolled your eyes at her, "Yes, because a high speed flight up and a death spiral toward the water is a perfect way to help someone get over their fear." Your sarcasm was so obvious it was funny. Astrid burst out laughing uncontrollably. "What? Am I missing something?"

She struggled trying to be able to breathe again. When her breathing had leveled out again, she finally spoke, "That's sort of what happened to me. I didn't have the death spiral experience, but Toothless shot straight up in the air as fast as possible. I also wasn't scared of dragons. I just wanted their heads on a wall."

You smiled, "Well, I think I can check 'conquer fear of dragons' off my to do list."

Astrid nearly jumped at you, "That reminds me, would you go to the academy and feed Stormfly? She seems to like you, and it'll help you get used to dragons while I deal with a few other chores."

You squeezed your eyes shut and held your breath avoiding the indefinite. "Fine, I'll do it," you blurted out in defeat.

"Great!" Astrid started running down the stairs, "Oh, and see if you can walk her around the academy a couple times. She'll just follow you if you have a fish in your hand. Thanks!" With that, she was out the door.

You leaned against the wall throwing your head back with a loud 'Thump!' as it made contact with the wood, "What am I getting myself into?"

You walked outside right as a large shadow cast itself across your lawn. Looking up, you spotted Hiccup and Toothless. They appeared to be heading right for the academy, "Better to talk to him sooner than later." You contemplated how different conversations would go in your head. Nothing seemed to be coming out right. It was all a mess no matter what you said. You'd apologize, he'd yell, you'd yell back, and eventually it would lead to either you leaving or one of dying by a stupid act. You looked up at the stone walls, "Here goes...everything." You walked in scanning for the dragon boy. He was making small adjustment's to Toothless's saddle. With a deep breath you approached, "Hiccup?"

He turned his head surprised to find you there, "What is it (Name)?" Toothless narrowed his eyes and quickly moved between you and Hiccup.

You hurriedly stepped back but tried to hide the pure terror the black demon struck through you. "I, um, I just..."

"Toothless!" Hiccup stepped around the dragon and looked at you again, "Go on."

You took another deep breath and let the words fall, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I've acted. What I did this morning was really rude, and the way I treated you yesterday was unforgivable. I'm so used to trying to push away anyone who tries to reach me that I find it hard to let anyone so much as help me. I just..." You stopped and you could feel your muscles tensing at the realization of emotion. Shaking your head you forced your muscles to relax. "I'm sorry." You turned around and walked toward the back where Stormfly was.

Hiccup called after you, "(Name)!" He ran up to you smiling, "If you want to learn more, about dragons that is, I'll help you. If you don't I'll gladly leave you alone, but I'd be happy to if you do."

The instinct in the back of your head told you to yell at the boy for hurting your sister and make him regret ever meeting you, but you knew that wasn't right. You fought against your first instinct and nodded with a smile, "I'd really appreciate that."

He opened the gate and walked back and brought Stormfly out, "First off, let's see if you can get close to her." Once she was out, Stormfly laid down.

You smiled at Stormfly before approaching her and scratching under her chin. "If this is all you're going to make me do, I might as well train myself."

Hiccup chuckled, "You're not getting off that easily. Now, can you get on a dragon?"

You looked at Stormfly's back, "She doesn't have her saddle on. How am I supposed-" Toothless nudged your back with his nose. You stepped behind Hiccup, "Keep him away from me. I've had enough near death experiences with him."

He nearly fell over laughing, "Well, he's the only dragon here with a saddle, so if you're going to get on, you might as well get on him. Besides, all he can do if I'm not on is run."

That didn't help to comfort you in the slightest, "No! He's made it very clear that he doesn't like me! I don't trust him as far as I can throw him!"

He shrugged, "I guess we can't do anything until Stormfly feels better."

"And how long do you think that'll be?" you asked as you headed for the barrel of fish.

Hiccup walked around Stormfly, "By the looks of it, at least another week if not two."

You groaned. There was no way of getting out of riding Toothless. "I guess I don't have much of a choice then do I?"

"No, not really," he said as he patted Toothless's head. The dragon huffed seeming just as unhappy about this as you did.

"Let's get this over with. The less time I spend on this overgrown lizard the better." The stepped up to Toothless and patted his neck. You climbed into the saddle and stared down at Toothless, "Now, what?"

"Good, now you can walk with him around the academy." Toothless growled very low. "Ease up Bud. When she knows how to ride then you won't have to carry her around anymore." Toothless slowly started walking around the room.

Several laps later you looked at Hiccup, "Can I do something else now? Neither of us are having fun and I've stayed on since we started."

He laughed as he again tended to Stormfly, "How about you take her for a run Bud?"

You looked up at him with wide eyes just before Toothless let out a pleased growl before taking off in full sprint out of the academy and leading you toward the forest. You looked up ahead and leaned forward holding onto the handles in the saddle, "You know what, you useless reptile? Bring it on!" You stood in the footholds of on either side of the saddle and kept your hands on the handles as you would with a horse. Toothless roared and took off even faster trying his best to dodge trees and rocks at last second doing anything to scare you. "That's not gonna work! I'm in it to win it!" Toothless made a sharp turn and made his way back to the academy as fast as he could. When he skidded to a stop inside the academy, you were ready for it leaning the other way. "Nice try Demon, but I was ready for you this time!" You hopped off the dragon's back and he smiled the smile that gave him his name.

Hiccup walked up to you and pat your back, "I'm glad you two haven't killed each other. How about we go fly?"

You looked around noticing that Stormfly was back behind the gate curled up. "Did you walk Stormfly around the academy a few times?"

"Don't worry. I already took care of her. Let's go fly before it gets too dark," he said pointing at the horizon as the sun was getting close to meeting it.

You hadn't realized how long you and Toothless had been out. "Let's get out of here."

Hiccup climbed on and locked his metal prosthetic into place. Holding his hand out smiling he said, "Shall we m'lady?"

You folded your arms and glared at him, "Fine, but call me 'm'lady' one more time and I might smack that grin off of your face." You took his hand and climbed up wrapping your arms around him.

He chuckled, "Fine." Toothless walked out of the academy and spread his wings, "Are you ready?"

You laughed, "Oh yeah!"


	8. Flights of Fancy, Fights of Friends

_**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't get this up sooner! I'm trying to at least get a chapter, if not more, up each week. Also, I have an RP for HTTYD! Most of the characters are still available and OC's are very welcome! forum/HTTYD-Roleplay/146906/ Check it out! Tell your friends! Here's the next chapter!**_

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Toothless walked out of the academy before quickly taking off into the same routine he had when you'd first ridden him. He bolted upward nearly vertically. You screamed with joy and held tighter to Hiccup not wanting to fall to your death. You could feel him chuckle as you felt the rumble under your hands. Toothless came to an arc at nearly cloud height before death spiraling toward the ground. You pulled yourself as close as you could to Hiccup not in fear but in excitement. You knew you could trust both Hiccup and Toothless now. It was just a matter of how much. Still in the spiral and well above the ground you spoke into Hiccup's ear, "How good is Toothless at playing catch?"

Hiccup chuckled at the random question, "Pretty good, why?"

You didn't even answer. You pulled your legs to one side of Toothless and let go of Hiccup. You spun slightly and quickly adjusted to stop it. Hiccup was making Toothless slow down as he tried to position to catch you. Flipping over, you started to nose-dive as Toothless was doing moments ago. You watched Hiccup's face as he caught on and told Toothless do dive again as well. The dragon was right in front of you. He smiled his name-sake smile which made you laugh. You started to approach the water now below you. Toothless moved behind you and, just before you could hit the water, he wrapped his front claws around your waist pulling you up. You reached your hand out to touch the water as you flew over it. All you could do was laugh. No words could describe this moment.

Hiccup leaned down holding his hand out for you. Once you'd grabbed it, Toothless let you go. Hiccup pulled you up as you climbed into the saddle behind him. Toothless again flew straight up causing you to wrap your arms around him again. He steadied himself just below the clouds and slowed down. You looked around at the beauty below you. The water sparkled and the grass and rocks blended in a perfectly gorgeous image. You reached your hand up and let it pass through the cool vapors of the cloud. You giggled and wrapped your arms around Hiccup again, "I can't thank you enough! This is beautiful!"

"Give it a few more minutes and it'll be even more beautiful," he said and you could hear the smile in his voice.

You looked ahead to see the sun preparing to set. The edge of the sky was starting to glow and within five minutes the sky was glowing in rays of orange, yellow and red. You water reflected the beautiful colors in sparkling waves. Everything quickly started to dim as the light faded. This time of year the light faded quickly. Days were normally very cold and snowy, but this year had been abnormally dry yet it was still cold. Most people wouldn't go out after dark for fear of catching cold, but this would be an exception for you. It didn't matter how cold you were. This short trip had been amazing, and you wanted to savor every moment of it. You admired everything taking in every sight you could cast your eyes on. It wasn't until Toothless started to descend toward the trees that you realized your head was on Hiccup's shoulder. Slowly you lifted your head hoping you hadn't been that way for too long and that he wasn't paying attention. You noticed how close you were getting to the ground. "What's going on, Hiccup?"

"Toothless's tail rigging is stuck." He pointed ahead, "We're going to glide into that break in the trees."

"Alright, but we need to get back soon." You held tighter around him as you watched the break approach. The narrow strip would be wide enough for Toothless to land in, but not without being extremely careful. Toothless came around in a circle as you watched the clearing. It looked odd as you came around, then it donned on you. "Hiccup! We can't land!"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a-" but it was too late. Toothless was coming in to land and Hiccup could finally see the crevice in the ground.

Hiccup angled Toothless away from the crack. One of Toothless's wings caught the branches on one of the trees sending him spinning. Hiccup unhooked his prosthetic as fast as he could and wrapped his arms around you as he bailed off. You hit something and blacked out.

When you came to, you could hear Toothless's roaring echoing around. He was scared. What had happened? You looked around, but it was pitch black. Then it came back to you. Where's Hiccup? You heard a groan a few feet from you, "Hiccup? Is that you?"

"(Name)? Yeah, it's me. Are you alright?" It sounded like he was trying to cover the strain in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

"I think so." He paused for a moment before calling to Toothless to calm him down, "Toothless! It's okay! We're fine! Quiet down Bud!" Toothless settle down a little at the sound of his voice. "Now, I'm going to need you to push my satchel down here!"

Something hit the ground behind you making you squeal. It wasn't a comforting sound, but you had known what the object was, "Got it."

"Great job Bud. Now push down some small sticks." A few of them fell over you as he pushed them into the crevice. You and Hiccup tried to gather them up in the dark as you bumped into each other. He rummaged blindly through his bag.

"What are you looking for? We need to get out of here."

"Found it! We aren't going to make it out of this crevice tonight. We'll have to keep moving to find a way out of it."

"What do you mean? We can't even see. There's got to be a way out right here somewhere."

"We'll need to start a fire and find food."

"Are you even listening?"

"Plus, we need to find some real shelter."

"Have you heard a word I've said?"

"Then, there's the matter of water."

"Well, this is getting us nowhere."

"We'll get out of this, but we have to work together. For once, you have to listen to me. Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one sided."

"Deal?"

You huffed in the darkness, "Fine."

Hiccup struck a couple of rocks together a few times creating sparks. The quickly started to light a handful of grass on fire. He transferred the sticks to them when the fire was sufficient. "Toothless! Drop some small branches down! Small enough for us to hold!"

Within moments about five small branches landed behind Hiccup, "What are those for?"

"We're going to have to make torches to keep moving," he said as he stuck one end of a branch in the fire. He looked up to the top of the crevice about fifteen feet above. "Toothless, go home. We'll find out way back." Toothless roared down. "No, Bud. You have to go back." Toothless let out a pitiful sound before slowly starting to lumber off.

"Why are you sending him away? Maybe he can help us."

"He can't do anything except push things down to us right now. We need to start moving before we find out what kind of dragon made this crevice." He handed you the torch and gathered the other branches under his arm.

You grabbed the satchel and slung it over your shoulder, "So, which way do we go?"

He pointed toward the mountain, "With any luck, we'll find another tunnel that will lead us out. Keep your eyes open though. The only dragon I've seen on Berk that makes tunnels is a Whispering Death."

You froze, "A WHAT?!"


	9. Survival and Spoils

**_Hey! Thanks for the views guys! Here's to 1000 views of Hearts On Fire! I can't believe I've only been working on this story for about a month! I luv (lol get it Luv? no? fine.) you all! Let's try for 1200 before the next chapter! Check out my Roleplay! Let your other RP friends know too! forum/HTTYD-Roleplay/146906/ _**

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Hiccup smiled at you, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

You laughed nervously, "Yeah, I feel so much better. The boy with one leg who probably can't throw my axe more than five feet is going to keep me safe. Yay! My hero!" You were starting to babble and quickly shut your mouth. You hated that about yourself. You babbled whenever nerves hit. It had gotten you in trouble on many occasions.

Hiccup put a hand on your shoulder, "I promise nothing is going to happen to you while we're out here. If you get hurt, I'll teach you to ride Toothless."

Again, you opened your big mouth, "Because riding a dragon is definitely going to comfort the girl who is probably going to get eaten by a dragon."

"You're not going to get eaten. Dragons only attack to defend themselves. Most species aren't even very territorial." He turned toward the mountain and started walking through the crevice.

You nervously followed behind him, "And what dragons are territorial?"

You could see him tense a little in the dim light, "Well, there's only a few that are dangerously territorial."

"Such as..."

"Well," he took a deep breath, "there's the Monstrous Nightmare and the..." He mumbled something unintelligible at the end.

"The what?" you asked stepping closer to him.

"I said the... werperm dis" he mumbled.

"Oh, just say it!"

"The Whispering Death! Happy?" he whisper yelled over his shoulder.

"Wait! What?!" you yelled and stopped in your tracks.

Hiccup spun around and tried to hush you, "Please, (Name), lower your voice or-"

"You mean the things we're very likely to come in contact with in those caves?! No! I'm not going in there! There's absolutely no way!" you said turning around and quickly walking the other direction.

Hiccup grabbed your shoulder and put his hand to your mouth. Bad move. You elbowed him, stomped on his good foot, and flipped him over your shoulder. "Never grab me from behind," you said more irritated than anything.

He laid on the ground staring up at you for a moment before finally gasping and responding. "Point made," he groaned as he sat up. "You really do need to keep your voice down though," he said from his spot on the ground. "Loud sounds will get their attention. If they heard you we're probably already in trouble. If not and you can stay quiet, they'll avoid bright light, meaning light another torch, and we can keep moving." He gathered the extra branches and stood up. "Relax, and I can guarantee you'll be safe. If not, you can punch me in the face as much as you want for a week. Better, both you and Astrid can."

You shifted uncomfortably and finally started walking toward the mountain again. "Let's just get this over with. It's getting really cold," you said noticing the goose bumps on your arms.

Hiccup smiled and draped his fur vest over your shoulders. "That should help."

You smiled at him, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said back with a smile. "Now, let's get going before it gets even colder."

Before you knew it you were weaving labyrinth tunnels, climbing angled ones, and yet still no dragons. Neither of you had said a word since you'd entered. You didn't dare for multiple reasons. First, you were afraid you might alert a dragon, and second, you were so nervous you knew you'd spout off your big mouth again. After what felt like, and might have been, hours you climbed out of the ground and into a cave. It was much colder than it had been and you held Hiccup's vest tight to yourself trying to hold in as much heat as possible. You noticed several boulders toward the back of the cave and whispered to Hiccup, "Would these work to fill that hole?"

He smiled at you, "Actually they would. We'll just have to put several of them in."

You both quickly went to work pushing the rocks into the hole. After you'd dropped in three, the last stuck out of the top of the hole. Hiccup inspected the cave while you looked outside the mouth of it. You could see light coming over the horizon on the right which illuminated the area. You two really had been working through the tunnels for hours. Looking over the edge, you knew you weren't getting out of there any time soon. The cave dropped to almost a sheer drop with a three foot wide ledge leading to another place on the mountain, but for now you didn't care. You just needed food, water, and to sleep. It wasn't worth risking your life on the possibly unstable ledge if Hiccup had temporary supplies. You heard him approaching you. "Looks like the cave's secure. Seems like it was Gronckles living here last. They're probably the least territorial aside from Terrible Terrors. We'll be safe here. Why don't you rest for a few minutes and I'll check that ledge out?"

You gave him a disapproving look, "If you think I'm letting you go across that thing alone, you might as well throw me over the cliff now. If you fall and die, I'm as good as dead out here. At least if I die, you have a chance to get back."

Hiccup's face fell the longer you went on. "Fine, we'll both go," he said trying to keep his face emotionless. He moved past you with his satchel over his shoulder making his way across the ledge staying close to the cliff face behind him. You made your way shortly after him. After a few minutes both of you finally reached the end of the ledge and found a small patch of berry bushes that had frozen. Hiccup began ranting, "That's just great! Frozen bushes! Odin must have some sense of humor because I bet he's laughing right now! Just like frozen crops! Well, this was wasted time!"

You waved your hand at him and he quickly shut his mouth. You inspected the berries further. Most of the berries had frozen at their peak. The cold weather must have set in early and fast. You picked several of them and turned around. "Look at this," you said shoving the berries in Hiccup's face, "They're frozen perfectly! They're edible as long as we don't thaw them and let them sit. And by the snow that's six inches deep, I'd be willing to place a bet that it's plenty cold up here to keep these berries frozen for a while."

Hiccup dug through his satchel before producing a bowl, "If we gather some snow we can melt it over the fire."

You smiled at him, "Alright, you start working on that, and I'll gather some berries. Leave me your satchel."

He nodded, "Fine, I'll meet you back at the cave." He tossed the satchel to her and stared gathering the frozen flakes and packing them into the bowl as tight as he could and several inches above it.

After he had left, you started searching through what was in the satchel. You noticed a piece of fabric folded and tied with a leather chord. You untied it out of curiosity and found it to be a folded rucksack. You carefully organized what had been in the satchel into the rucksack and slung the new bag onto your back as you quickly filled the satchel with berries and placed it in the rucksack as well.

When you finally made it back to the cave Hiccup gave you a curious look, "Well, that took longer than expected. What were you-" He noticed the bag strapped to your shoulders and knew instantly what you'd done. "You know, if you wanted to know what that was you could have just asked."

You pulled the sack off your back rolling your eyes, "If I'd asked I wouldn't have found an easier way of carrying the berries back." You pulled out the satchel that you had tied closed and threw it to him a few feet away and gently set the rucksack beside you. He handed you the bowl of water, "Thanks." You put it to your lips and quickly swallowed half of the water.

He reached into the bag and produced a few berries studying them, "Do you even know what kind of berries these are?"

You rolled your eyes again and snagged the bag from him, "I don't know what they're called, but I do know they're edible. I used to go camping with one of the families in my old tribe. The father of the household was teaching his children survival techniques and asked if I would like to join. I didn't get to learn much because of the short time I had left there, but I do remember him teaching me what was edible and not. These were my favorites." You pulled out a handful and laid back on the cave floor as you started popping them in your mouth. You glanced up after a minute of silence and noticed Hiccup staring at you with a smile on his face. "What? Do I have a bug on my face or something?"

He shook his head as if coming out of some kind of trance, "No! No, I was just thinking."

"While staring at me?" You propped yourself up on your arm giving him a suspicious look.

"No, I was just thinking that this is nice. I mean we're actually having a conversation that doesn't involve dragons, a normal, civilized conversation." He took the bag back and laid on the floor eating berries as well.

He was right. This was probably the only time you hadn't either talked about dragons or threatened him. It was actually kind of nice, but the mischievous streak in you took over. The opportunity was too perfect. You started wheezing and sat up putting your hand on your neck.

Hiccup quickly sat up and looked at you worriedly, "Are you alright? What's going on?"

You tried to say "Berries" but you cut off the sound and quickly your breathing followed.

Hiccup was panicking. "Oh, gods, you must be allergic to them. What do I do?" He was losing his mind.

It was time for the finally. You gave him a pitiful look before unfocusing your eyes and slumping to the ground.

"What do I do? What do I do?!" He was pacing frantically, desperately wracking his brain for any solution

You couldn't help it anymore. You started laughing. Hiccup looked at you with wide eyes. He was more than confused by what was happening. The look on his face only succeeding in making you laugh harder. When you could breath again you wiped the tears from your face and looked at Hiccup as you continued to try to stop your laughter, "You should have seen the look on your face! That was awesome!"

He got up glaring at you as he walked past and went to the front of the cave and sat on the ledge. He was less than amused by the joke, but you knew he'd come around sooner or later. Jokes like that were never funny at the time to anyone that wasn't in on it.

You sat up and watched as Hiccup stared into the forest below. He was at home in a place like this. You on the other hand, you knew alone, but you didn't know peace at being alone. You only knew the empty hole that it seemed to leave in your soul. You curled up on the back side of the small fire and watched Hiccup. You left his vest on the other side so he could have it back. You kept your eyes on him as you slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	10. Pain

_**You guys really do go for a goal when I give it to you don't you? Normally there aren't 200 views in a chapter! Wow! Now I'm going to challenge you to hit 1500! Can you guys do it? Also, I'm still looking for lots of people of my RP! forum/HTTYD-Roleplay/146906/ **_

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You heard a shout that woke you up. Flipping over you saw Hiccup behind one of the boulders struggling. You quickly jumped up and ran over, "What did you do?"

He smiled sheepishly, "I was trying to move a few of the boulders to the front of the cave to block some of the wind."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" you asked crossing your arms.

"Can we talk about this later? Right now, I'm being crushed by this rock."

You looked the rock over trying to find the best way to get a hold on it. Finally you wrapped your arms over the top of it and started pulling back with all your strength and weight. The rock tipped a little allowing Hiccup to pull himself free. He carefully slumped against the wall and to the ground a couple feet away as you let the boulder rock back into position. You hunched over trying to catch your breath, "Why?"

He started trying to defend himself, "You were freezing earlier. I figured, If I could at least move the rocks-"

"No!" You shouted straightening up, "Why are you so _stupid_?" You turned around to go back to the small fire and noticed Hiccup's vest on the ground next to where you had been. He must have put it over you again while you were sleeping. Deciding to keep being angry you turned back around to face him, "If it took both of us _together_ to push those rocks into that hole, what made you think you could do it _alone_?!"

"I, um, well-" he stuttered.

"Exactly! You didn't think! That's the problem! Sometimes you _over_ think, other times you _under_ think!" You picked up the bowl you two had been using for water and started walking out.

"Where are you going?" he asked quietly.

"I'm going to get some snow and branches. I'll be back." With that you walked across the ledge and started collecting the snow from the the area where you'd found the berries. You started to grumble to yourself, "Why is he so stupid? What? Does he think I'm no help to him out here? Well, I've probably got as much smarts out here as he does about dragons." After gathering the snow and picking up an arm load of dead branches you made your way back. Hiccup was still sitting in the same spot. You rolled your eyes, "What's your problem now?"

You put the metal bowl of snow and pile of branches off to the side before walking over to him. He looked up to you with worried eyes, "I can't get up."

The expression on your face changed for an instant but quickly returned to anger and irritation, "What do you mean?" This had to be a trick, payback for the berry thing this morning.

"I mean I can't put pressure on my left arm or leg." The worried look on his face didn't falter. He seemed to be serious.

You rolled your eyes at him, "Fine, let's get you over to the fire and I'll see what I can do." You crouched down and put your arm around his waist. He flinched as if the touch hurt and you hauled him to his feet, or foot. "Take it slow. Put your weight on me and we'll get you over there soon enough."

Hiccup wrapped his arm around your shoulder and hopped wincing and groaning as he moved. After several minutes you two were standing by the fire. Slowly you lowered him to the ground. "Thank you, (Name)."

You gave him a small smile, "Don't worry about it. Now, let's take a look at that arm." You moved to his other side. "My bet is that you've probably broken something under the weight of that boulder. Is the pain in your upper or lower arm?"

"It's in my lower arm. I can't even move my hand."

You looked at his hand to see it clenched into a fist. Shaking your head, you smiled, "Well, loosening your hand will help me figure out which bone is broken. Now, hold out your arm. It'll hurt, but it'll help me to help you." Hiccup did as you said and stuck his arm out opening his hand with a groan. "I'm going to run my fingers over each of the bones. Tell me what hurts worse." You could see the worry in his eyes, "Relax. A broken arm will heal in a few weeks. It's nothing to be scared about."

"Of course not. We're stuck on a mountain with no way back. There's nothing wrong with this picture at all." You smacked the back of his head, "Hey! What happened to helping?"

"It got your mind off your arm and leg didn't it?" you said with a fake sweet smile.

"Well, it's not helping anymore."

"Stop being such a baby." You ran your fingers firmly across the bottom of his arm and he hardly flinched. "That's a good sign." When your fingers ran across the top of his arm he pulled it back only hurting himself more. "Stop moving. You're only going to make it worse."

"Well, excuse me for having reflexes."

"Hold it still." You carefully rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm that didn't even seem to have moved. "You're lucky. It's only a fracture. That or it wasn't moved out of place when it broke." You got up and retrieved a couple small branches, the satchel, and the rucksack. You dumped the berries in a pocket on the rucksack and retrieved the leather chord the fabric had been tied with. "These'll have to do for now. I'll splint your arm and _when_ we get back, which I know we will, we'll have a real healer take a good look at you." You placed the sticks on either side of his arm breaking them at the right length and tying them in place with most of the. "That arm won't be doing anything until it's healed. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am. No moving the arm. Got it." He said sarcastically. Again, you smacked his head. "Ow! Are you sure you're not related to Gobber?"

You moved to Hiccup's right and punched his good arm. "Don't make me break this one too."

He rolled his right shoulder, "Okay! I believe you! You most definitely are Astrid's sister."

You smiled triumphantly as you adjusted the strap of the satchel. "Thanks! We Hoffersons pride ourselves in our hitting." He carefully place his arm in the bag and put the strap over his head. "That'll keep your arm from moving out of place and reduce the temptation to use your hand."

You moved back to his left side and reached down to take off his prosthetic thinking that it might be part of his problem.

Hiccup's hand grabbed yours, "Stop!"

You looked up with wide eyes taken off guard, "What?"

He blushed a little, "You, um-" He paused for a second gathering his thoughts, "You don't want to see that."

You rolled your eyes at him again, "I'm sure if I can handle the sight of a man with stab wounds from _and _three Monstrous Nightmare teeth in his arm, I think I can handle the sight of a lost limb." You gave him a cocky look, but the smile that accompanied it was more warm and comforting.

He thought for a second and then gave you a halfhearted smile. Looking down he noticed he was still holding your hand and quickly pulled his back.

You had to laugh. Carefully you unhooked the prosthetic and set it aside. You gently laid his leg down straight on the ground. He hissed in pain making you wince. That had always been the worst part of working with the healers in your old tribe. Knowing that you were causing them more pain only made you sick, but over time you were doing better to hide it.

Hiccup cringed as you started to pull up his pant leg, "Just don't freak out, alright?"

You gave him a caring smile. "I'll do my best," you joked. Pulling up the fabric you could see how swollen and red the area was. The small lower portion of his leg had most definitely been broken. Even for a stub the angle was unnatural, though not as bad as expected. "This we'll have to set. We can't wait to get back to do it either." You reached to your pile of branches and found a green one. Pulling the knife from his belt, you began scraping away the bark. "A little trick I learned with the healers, a fresh branch from an edible plant with scraped off bark works as good to a patient as a rolled up cloth." You handed him the stick to put in his mouth. He placed it between his teeth and took a few deep breaths. You took a few deep breaths of your own. "You ready?" With one more deep breath he nodded and looked up the the ceiling. You took a deep breath and moved the bone.

It wasn't until you were done that you realized how loud he had been as the sounds echoed in the cave. It broke your heart to know you were doing that too him. He pulled the stick from his mouth and dropped it beside him, his hand reaching up to your face making you look at him. "None of that." You gave him a confused look and he gave you a soft, caring half smile as he wiped a tear from your cheek.

You pulled away and quickly wiped your face. Tears meant crying. Crying meant weakness. That wasn't accepted from a Hofferson at any age. "Sorry, I don't know why-"

"You don't have to apologize." He tipped your chin up, "It really is okay to cry."

You laughed, "Then why aren't you crying?" you asked as you carefully nudged his left shoulder with your fist.

"I guess I'm just tough like that," he said as he put his hand behind his head.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, "To think that I believed you were a humble man. Looks like we both have disappointments don't we?" You went back to work splinting his leg.

He gave you a quizative look, "And how was I disappointed?"

You continued tying the branches around his stump of a leg to give yourself an excuse not to make eye contact, "Well, I don't do well with dragons, I'm not the easiest person to get along with, and I don't exactly hold up the tough Hofferson image very well."

"Who said any of that was a disappointment? Doing well with dragons is something that can be taught, but it takes time. Look at the village. It took most of them a year before they could fully accept the dragons." He laughed thinking about some of the crazy things some of them did to avoid the dragons for the longest time.

"Yeah, time that I don't have the patience for."

"Says the girl who rode on the back of a Night Fury, three times." He shook his head at you. "I'm glad you don't hold up the tough image if you don't aren't that way. It makes me feel like less of a wimp," he said with a laugh.

"Gee, you make me feel so much better," you said dripping with sarcasm.

He laughed again, "See? You think your sarcasm and your nervous insults make you hard to deal with. They don't. It's just one of your many quirks."

"And those quirks make me all the more loveable don't they?" you said in a very sarcastic and high voice making yourself sound more girly.

He smiled and again tipped your chin to make you look at him, "Yeah, they do. That's one of the things you don't see about yourself. People like you for you. You just don't give them the chance to because you think it's not possible. Give the people of Berk another chance. If you show them the real you, you'll be surprised how accepting they may be." He wiped another tear off your cheek with a small chuckle.

You pulled away and wiped your face again before looking him in the eye. "Thanks Hiccup." You shivered as a cold night breeze hit your skin from the cave entrance at your back.

He smiled and gestured for you to come over as he picked up his vest off the floor. You carefully sat on his right side and he yet again put his vest around your shoulders, "That's what friends are for (Name)." He put his hand behind his head as he tipped his head back against the wall.

It had been a long day. You had slept through part of it, but even with that bit of sleep, it still wan't good enough. Slowly, you could feel the lack of good sleep catching up to you. You tipped your head back against the wall too and your head started to droop to the side. Before long you couldn't stop it from tipping as you slid to the floor and fell asleep.

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_**Well, I'm sorry I haven't done this yet, but you are my inspiration. Here's a shout out to all of you who have reviewed so far**_

_**readingisdabest: I have to say thank you for your continued support not only with this story, but the other ones on my account too.**_

_**Snowflake: I was glad to see you coming back and thank you for doing so. Hope you're still reading!**_

_**lilydipper: I'm glad you enjoyed my story and I hope your Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate went well.**_

_**StrangelyPaula: I love how proper you sound in your review. It makes me smile.**_

_**savanahthedragontamer354: I'm happy you enjoyed it and I hope you still enjoy it now.**_

_**TheTripleThreat: I'm glad I'm getting inside your head. Just shows how much me and my readers are alike! I hope I continue invading! lol**_

_**night fury kid65: Thanks for the praise. I hope you're still into this story.**_

_**This ones for my random guests: I may not know who you are, but I appreciate you enjoying my story and commenting. Plus, I'm sorry to say A. D. S. but I already have a plan for the dragon. That was one of the key points in my original design. If I could I would write one for each of my readers with what they want, but that's just not possible. I'm sorry if that disappoints you. :'(**_

_**Light to Shadow: Your review made me laugh. I was honestly trying to figure out what the first part was saying for a couple minutes before I gave up. I do stupid things all the time, but then I do something crazy. ;) haha get it? huh? no? fine! :(**_

_**That's all folks! I'll try to stay on top of my reviews. I'm totally STOKED when I get a new review. It's one of the things that makes me smile before even seeing it! Yay for my reviewers! Kisses! I'll get back to working on the next chapter now. Hahaha!**_


	11. Rescue and Realization

"Well, isn't this sweet?" you heard a voice say as it pulled you to consciousness.

Looking around you saw Astrid standing over you. "Astrid?" You didn't know what was going on. You felt your pillow shift under your head and lifted your head to see what was going on. Your eyes met a drowsy, green pair and both of your immediately snapped to reality.

Sitting up quickly, you and Hiccup both started to try to explain what was going on. Astrid rolled her eyes, "I don't care what's going on between you two. That's your business. I'm just glad you two are alive."

You looked at Hiccup noticing how red he was and knowing you were just as red. You stood up, "How did you find us?"

Astrid folded her arms, "Actually, Snotlout found the smoke last night just before dark, but he couldn't lead us too it until this morning."

"So, who else is here? And how is Stormfly even flying? She shouldn't have been up for another week." Hiccup said from his place on the floor.

Astrid shook her head, "No one. I was the only one who could get into the cave, aside from Fishlegs or your dad. Only one dragon would fit into the cave, so we figured it was best to have me make two trips. Stormfly was up making all kinds of sounds last night. I don't know how but she seems to be doing fine now."

"Take him first," you said knowing Hiccup would say the same. "He needs to get to the healer. Once you get him there come back, but not until then."

Your sister wasn't one to question you when you had a determined look in your eye. "Alright."

"Alright? No! Take her down. I know what to do if a dragon comes around. She needs to get back," Hiccup tried to argue.

"That's not going to work. You're going back first and that's final." Knowing your strength, you easily picked Hiccup up and walked him over to Stormfly. You and Astrid got him on before she climbed on as well. "Remember, he goes to the healer before you come to get me."

Astrid nodded, "I'll make sure of it. Be careful out here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

You watched as they slowly disappeared. Were it not for Hiccup's injuries, Astrid would have been flying faster, but he couldn't hold on with only one arm. You could hear the sounds of dragons everywhere. Not many of them were sounds you could pick out. You gathered Hiccup's stuff and put all but the bowl in the rucksack. You walked the ledge with the bowl in your hand and went back to get more snow. When your returned you dumped the snow on the fire, "Guess there's no reason for this."

You placed the bowl in the rucksack and glanced down noticing Hiccup's prosthetic. You smiled and shook your head. To be honest, you couldn't blame him for doing stupid things. He was only trying to help. You turned the piece over in your hands, It had obviously been bent. You'd take it to Gobber after you got back if you could find him, or maybe you'd just leave it at the forge with a note. After all, how long had it been since you'd seen him? So much can change in ten years and you didn't know if he would look the same.

The sound of wings snapped you back to the present. Astrid and Stormfly landed just inside the cave, "Ready?"

You glanced around to make sure you hadn't left any of Hiccup's things before putting the rucksack on your back and the prosthetic under your arm. "Let's get out of here." You climbed up behind Astrid and before long you two were back in the village.

Astrid climbed off of Stormfly and started removing her saddle, "I'm going to take Stormfly home and check on Hiccup. Get his prosthetic to Gobber."

I nodded and started walking down the hill. You knew where the forge would be and could see a large rather round man working. You slowly walked in, "Gobber?"

The man turned around and smiled, "Astrid! What brings-" He cut himself off as he looked down at what was in your hands. "What did he do to himself this time?"

You smiled at the man, "He crushed himself behind a boulder."

"He's as clumsy as ever eh?" the man shook his head and took the object.

You shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I haven't been here in ten years."

The man's face scrunched up, "What are ya talkin' 'bout? Course ya-" He cut himself short as he looked you over, "I new there was something off! (Name)? Is that really you?"

You bowed mockingly, "In the flesh."

He laughed, "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes! I thought ya'd be at the healer's by now. Seems like you faired pretty well out there."

"Well, the skills to survive is definitely knowledge I have." You folded your arms and leaned on one of the tables.

"And more than that it seems. I saw your handy work on Hiccup's arm. You have skills with healing."

You scoffed, "His arm was nothing. You should have seen me set his leg." You quickly closed your mouth. You didn't want anyone to know what your skills were. The last thing you needed was for people to expect big things from you.

Gobber's eyes went wide, "You did what?"

You stumbled trying to come up with an excuse, "Well, I-, you see-"

He held up his hand, "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

You sighed in relief, "You're a life saver Gobber."

He waved his hammer of a hand, "Ah, you're a good kid. I've kept secrets for Hiccup for many years. If I was going to open my mouth I would'a done it a long time ago."

"Oh, really? What kind of secrets?" you asked as you leaned toward him.

"Like how he had the biggest crush on Astrid when he was tiny. True, after they started dating I didn't have to keep the secret anymore, but it was fun tease him while it lasted." Gobber laughed.

You chuckled, "Did he ever say why he had a crush on her?" You folded your arms smiling.

"Oh, yeah," Gobber started as he put a piece of metal in the fire. "He went on and on about how she used to sit in the Great Hall with your parents and steal your father's axe and drag it across the floor."

Your smile quickly faded. "That's what made him have a crush on her? That's what started it?"

Gobber pulled out the piece and started to shape it, "Exactly. He knew she was strong and would be a good fighter and something just clicked in his little brain. He also remembers how she cut her shoulder pretty bad with it when she was old enough to pick it up. Oh, and how she got that gash in her forehead on the left side from Snotlout pushing her down on the bottom steps of the Great Hall. He'd talk about those little things for hours. To tell you the truth, I think I got more sleep listening to him tell stories than when I actually went home."

By this point you couldn't focus. You turned around and walked home without another word. If what Gobber said was true, then Hiccup had been wrong his whole life. When you were three you'd dragged you dad's axe out from under the table and tried to pick it up. You weren't strong enough and it only made you frustrated to try. You'd kicked it and started crying. By four years old you and Astrid could pick it up if you worked together, but you couldn't control it at all. You'd dropped it and cut your shoulder when the blade came down. To this day you still had the scar on your right shoulder. Luckily for you, the shirt you'd been wearing covered that shoulder.

You reached up and touched the scar on your forehead. It was on the left side and covered by your bangs. Snotlout had always pulled yours and Astrid's hair when you were small, but one day he decided to be the dumb little boy he was and push you down the stairs. Astrid had turned around and punched him in the face for it. You'd received a gash in your forehead that took months to heal. Most of the other kids couldn't tell you apart back then. Your mother dressed you in the same clothes and your personalities were very similar.

At age six you had been sent away. Being the young kids you all were, the story had been that you had died since no one expected you to come back. It wasn't hard to make everyone believe. After a year, hardly anyone remembered the second little blonde with double braids. That was why Astrid had become so tough skinned. Your father had made her act like life hadn't changed. She'd become hardened because of it. Letting people in wasn't what she did, but after she gave Hiccup a chance, he'd stolen her heart and she'd opened up. You could see why too. He was kind-hearted, loyal, friendly, forgiving, and an all around good friend. He'd swept her off her feet.

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_**Sorry, this isn't my best chapter, but it is very revealing right? lol Hope you all still enjoyed it. Originally, This and the next chapter were one long chapter that I couldn't seem to find an end for. I ended up having to because I was at over 3,000 words and still wasn't done. **_

_**Here's a shout out to the reviewers!**_

_**TheTripleThreat: They just broke up so truly it is their business, but it doesn't mean she isn't mad.**_

_**starwish: I'm so glad you like it. I do have other stories on this account. I don't have any other HTTYD stories though. I don't really want to start any more on the same sort of topic until I finish this one, that way I don't stop working on it or combine them.**_

_**Light to Shadow: You always have a funny review. I'm happy you enjoyed it. I'll have the next one up before long.**_

_**A. D. S.: I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I wish I could come see your show. We did Beauty and the Beast last year in my advanced acting course and I loved it.**_


	12. Confessions and Secret Truths

_**Abby here! As always, I'm looking for more people in my roleplay! Most of the cast of characters is still available! We are in desperate search for more people! /forum/HTTYD-Roleplay/146906/ Paste that at the end of the normal fanfic main site and it will take you right to it. Thanks to TheTripleThreat for joining us! If any of you have any questions about it you can always message me. I promise I'll get back to you within 24 hours and normally within 3 depending on my schedule. Enjoy this chapter!**_

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You walked into your yard and Stormfly came up to you nudging you. You laughed, "I'm fine girl."

Astrid came into the yard, "(Name)!" You turned around to look at her. "Hiccup wants to talk to you."

You rolled your eyes, "Shouldn't he be resting? I mean, that arm and leg aren't going to heal if he's trying to use them."

She nodded, "Yeah, but he's determined. He just wants to make sure you're alright."

"Fine." You folded your arms and followed Astrid toward Hiccup's home, "But if he tries to defend himself by saying he was only trying to help, I think I might pummel him."

She laughed, "I'll help. He explained what happened on the way back to Berk, and I think the phrase 'I was just trying to help' might have come up."

"I guess we'll have to wait til he's healed up before we can beat him up though, huh?" you said between laughs.

"Yeah, I don't think his dad would be too happy if he was completely useless." She led you through the Haddock home up to Hiccup's room.

He smiled at the two of you as you walked into his room. He was laying on his bed wrapped in a blanket. As he sat up you could see his arm was properly bandaged.

"Looks like I was right about that arm, wasn't I?" you said with a cocky smile and folding your arms.

He rolled his eyes at you, "Yeah, you were, and the leg too. You definitely made the healer's job easier. She didn't have to set my leg."

You smiled proudly, "Of course, I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't sure. Oh, thought you might want this back." You dropped the rucksack on the floor next to the stairs.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," he said adjusting so he could see the two of you better.

"Well, I've still got chores. I'll see you back at home, (Name)." Astrid turned and walked down the stairs.

"Bye, Astrid," both you and Hiccup said at the same time. You both looked at each other and smiled.

Someone tackled you to the floor. You looked up to see Toothless staring at you. "Hey, you big demon! Glad you found your way back!" He licked your face a few times. "Stop! Eww!" You crawled out from under him wiping the sticky, slimy saliva off your face. "Toothless!" you whined. He laughed in his deep chested way as Hiccup nearly fell out of his bed with laughter.

You walked over and shoved a pillow over his face, "Now who's laughing, huh?"

He picked up another pillow and smacked you in the face with it knocking you on the floor, "Me! That's who!"

"You're worse than Astrid! At least she doesn't knock me on the floor," you chuckled as you stood up. "How's the leg?" you asked as you sat in the chair next to his bed.

Hiccup shrugged, "It would have been worse if you hadn't set it yesterday." He looked you in the eye with a sincere smile, "Thank you."

You shrugged, "You'd have done the same for me if the roles were reversed."

"I don't just mean for helping with my leg and arm. I mean for everything. Thank you for helping me, for giving me the chance to help you, for giving Toothless a chance," Toothless nudged you and you scratched his head before he went to lay down on his rock slab. Hiccup waited for you to look him in the eye, his look coming back caring and vulnerable, "And for opening up to me."

You pursed your lips. Now, you regretted opening your big mouth. If you didn't open up to him you would still feel safe here, but who knows who he's already told your secrets. You trusted him, but you'd been burned before too many times. Even if-

"(Name)?" He waved his hand in your face, "Are you alright?"

You shook your head clearing your thoughts before smiling at him, "Yeah, sorry. Just got lost in my head I guess." You nervously chuckled.

He gave you a warm smile, "You know, you can always talk to me or Astrid. We'll always listen if you need to talk. She's your sister and she always will be, and I'm your friend..."

You were starting to feel awkward. Family and friends were practically foreign topics to you. There weren't many kids in your old tribe who were your age, but the ones that were avoided you thinking you were a bad luck charm. "Her family left her to her grandparents. Don't get too close. Your family might abandon you too." That was common to hear from the other side of one of the buildings. During their dragon training they'd even been very careful to avoid getting hurt so they didn't have to spend time at the healers' with her. On several occasions when you were being trained to fight dragons, they'd said they'd be your friends. They'd tricked you into being the bait for the dragon so they could take it down. A nice stab wound in your back that still caused problems sometimes now, three years later, reminded you to never trust people or dragons because they'd always stab you in the back.

Hiccup snapped his fingers in front of you. Apparently, waving wasn't working anymore. Again, you shook your head. He chuckled, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

You smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, I'm just a little-"

"Would you stop apologizing?" You looked at him confused. "You have something on your mind and you won't tell anyone. If you keep doing that to yourself you're just going to keep pushing everyone that tries to care about you away."

"Maybe that's for the better," you mumbled to yourself.

"How is that going to be better?"

Son of a troll, that boy heard you. He stared at you determined to get answers. "Fine, you want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you." You took a deep breath trying to organize your jumbled mind. "I'm not used to having people help me, or take care of me, or even so much as care _about_ me. The last ten years of my life were spent with my grandparents. They were the only ones that cared and my grandfather was about as stubborn as my father was. He always thought I needed to toughen up. When my grandmother got me the chance to be the apprentice to the healers, I snapped it up because if people didn't care about me, at least I could care for them. Even the other kids avoided me saying I was bad luck, that their families would abandon them too if they got too close. I was more than an outcast. I was _alone_. No matter how quickly I learned, or how well I did, or even what great things I could do, no one cared enough to so much as thank me. I've been a bad luck charm to everyone for the last ten years. During a long drought, the entire village blamed me. They wanted to send me off in a small row boat and hope I found an enemy to torment." You sat back in the chair and took a few deep breaths feeling the tears in your eyes. "I wasn't anything to those people. That didn't change when my grandparents got sick either. I cared for them for weeks. I'd tended the house for weeks. When they were gone, I was all that was left. I still have to go back before long to sort all of what they owned. For now they just wanted to get me back here so I didn't cause anymore trouble there."

Hiccup reached up and wiped the tears from your eyes. "None of that, remember?" he joked with a small smile and soft chuckle.

You chuckled lightly and pushed his hand away, "You know, you're giving me mixed signals, right? None of that, but it's okay to cry." You smiled softly.

He laughed, "You win. I contradict myself."

You laughed lightly, "At least you don't contradict yourself in everything."

"If I did, I wouldn't be able to have taught you how to ride a dragon." He thought for a moment, "Speaking of which, what if I teach you how to ride Toothless?"

"And how do you intend to do that when you can't even leave?" you asked folding your arms.

"Well, if someone could help me down the stairs I could go where I wanted. I just need a stick to lean on." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up.

"Oh, no you don't. We don't want you getting worse. If you make that leg any worse you can kiss riding Toothless goodbye, because you won't be able to control that peddle anymore." You glared at him hoping he'd just drop the conversation.

"Toothless, come here." He leaned back on the bed and reached into the side table on the other side. He pulled out a peddle of some kind and a few tools. Toothless happily bounded over in front of him. "I can't ride for at least a few weeks. If I can teach you to ride him, you can take care of him while I'm stuck here. I don't want him to suffer with me." He went to work changing out the peddle.

"And how you intend to teach me, I have no idea." You slouched in the chair and leaned your head back. You'd slept better last night than before, but even though you probably slept on Hiccup's chest all night, you still didn't sleep very well.

"We'll figure something out." He tried to put his good arm on Toothless's back to stand up.

You practically jumped out of your seat, "Oh, no! I don't think so. Sit back down." You put your hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down on the edge of the bed.

He gave you a hurt look, "I can't believe you don't think I can handle this."

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, "I know you can handle it, but if you are the same clumsy kid I remember you used to be, then I don't think you should be risking it."

"You ma'am, you don't want to keep all of this," he paused for a second, "viking-ness contained."

You laughed, "I'm more of a viking than you'll ever be."

He put his hand to his chest dramatically, "That hurts. I never thought you'd kick a man while he was down."

"If you were really down, you'd be laying down." You walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled his shoulders down. You looked down on him, "Kind of like that."

"Nope, I think I'd rather sit up," he said as he did so.

Again, you pulled his shoulders down and held them there, "Don't even try to fight. I have better leverage from here."

He looked up at you with a smile, but it quickly faded into a curious look, "What's that?" He reached his hand up to touch the left side of your forehead.

Your eyes grew wide and you quickly stood up facing away from him, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." He'd probably jump off a cliff if he knew you were the one that was pushed down the stairs when you were little and not Astrid.

Hiccup sat up and turned to look at you, putting his legs back up on the bed. "(Name)? Where did you get that scar?"

You stared at the floor avoiding turning around. "It's not important."

You could hear the desperation in his voice, "(Name)," he paused, "please, tell me."

You felt the tears slide down your face. "I said don't worry about it," you said quietly.

He pat the side of the bed silently telling you to come over. You shook your head. "At least look at me. Please?"

You wiped your eyes and turned around, "Happy now?"

Hiccup shook his head, "No, I'm not. My friend won't tell me why she's upset."

"Get used to disappointment," you said folding your arms. You shook your head and walked toward the stairs.

He panicked, "Toothless!" The black demon jumped up from his slab again and cut you off.

"Toothless," you said with tear-filled eyes, "please move." Your voice was soft and even cracked.

Toothless laid down in front of you giving you large, round caring eyes. Hiccup again spoke, "(Name), you can tell me anything."

You closed your eyes shaking your head and unable to speak as more tears flowed down your face. You didn't want to disappoint him any more than you already did. That was all you seemed to do, disappoint people. It had been you all those years ago, but it was Astrid he had loved. It would only make things harder for him if he knew. After all, you weren't the strong, independent girl that he had grown to love.

A hand touched your shoulder. You'd been too wrapped in your own thoughts to notice Hiccup climb off his bed and use the back of the chair as crutch. You turned around and silently led him back. Once he was back where he belonged you turned to leave again, but he caught your wrist and pulled you down to sit beside him. He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you into a comforting hug. "You don't have to tell me. I just want you to know I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

You buried your face in his chest. How long you were there, you weren't sure. After a while you must have fallen asleep. When you opened your eyes it was dark out. Hiccup's arm was still wrapped around you, and he was fast asleep. Carefully, you moved his arm being sure not to wake him. It wasn't like you to leave without saying goodbye. You quickly walked to his desk, wrote him a note and left it on his side table. As you walked past Toothless, his head popped up. You scratched his nose and quietly made your way down the stairs. You breathed a sigh of relief as you got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, (Name)!" Stoick said as he walked in the door, "I thought you had come by earlier."

You could feel your face getting red, "Yeah, I, um, never left. Hiccup fell asleep." You chuckled nervously, "I'd better be getting home before my dad gets worried. It's always a pleasure to see you, Stoick." Quickly, you skirted around him and out the door. Once you were sure the he couldn't see you anymore you ran to your house. You sneaked through the front door finding your dad wasn't home yet. You breathed a sigh of relief and made your way up to your room. It had been a long few days and curling up in your own bed sounded more than perfect.

Astrid stopped you on the stairs, "So, how was hanging out with the cripple?"

You smirked, "Pretty uneventful. He's trying to find a way to get around so he isn't stuck in bed all the time."

Astrid shook her head, "Same old Hiccup. Before long he's going to find a way to get from one place to another without so much as moving."

"Of course," you said laughing, "he wouldn't be Hiccup if he didn't."

"I guess not. Are you hungry? Let's eat and we can talk."

You nodded and followed Astrid back down the stairs.

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_**This chapter was **__**intended to end differently, but as the author that must keep you waiting for the real romance, you must get over that if you really want it to get good. I finished chapter 13 on 1/13/14 at 12:03am my time. I hope you guys stick around for upcoming chapters. I'm getting to the romance. I promise. You just have to wait a couple more chapters. I can see it all working out in my head. There are just a few important details I have to give you and work out before I can really get into the romance part.**_

_**Well, now for the shout outs!**_

_**A. D. S.: It's a good thing to keep surprising the audience. Funny thing is, most of the time the surprises I come up with are surprises to me when I'm writing. I have an overall plan, but different pieces like the "wrong twin" shock were last minute things. This one probably didn't shock you, but I hope it kept you interested in the story. Just a warning my 11 year old friend...I changed the rating on this story to T. If that is something that will stop you, let me know and I'll edit any chapter and I can e-mail it to you at one point. Just don't put your e-mail on a review unless you want me to delete the review as soon as I get it.**_

_**TheTripleThreat: So happy you approve. Most people I think were annoyed by that. I wasn't sure how well that was going to go over, but after all, you are her sister. She can't be too mad since she just got you back. Friends come and go, but sisters are forever.**_

_**Faustita: MOOOAARRR?! You want MOAR?! Well, there you go! Hahaha I hope to hear from you again.**_

_**Light to Shadow: Erm glerd yer lurved it! Er hurp yer lurved thers wern ter! (not sure I did that right. lol "I'm glad you loved it! I hope you loved this one too!")**_


	13. Sisterly Ties

_**Me again! Sorry for taking so long on this one guys. I've been kind of stumped on writing knew chapters. Sure, this one was done before I uploaded the last one, but I like to stay ahead so I don't feel so rushed. I finished chapter 14 and am now on 15. I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I do. Sometimes I have to go back and reread it so I don't forget details. Haha! Well, this story is long from over, and some of my plans you'll probably want to kill me for, but it must happen. I promise things will get better in the romance department, but be patient. I'm working on it! Enjoy chapter 13!**_

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You coughed, nearly choking on a piece of fish. "He did what?!"

Astrid tried to contain her laughter at your reaction. "He sleep-walked through the village in the middle of the night. Luckily he sleeps with his pants on, can't say the same for the other guys around here. Hiccup isn't the only one who's done it." She took a drink before continuing, "And you wouldn't believe some of the things Snotlout has done."

You smiled swallowing another bite, "Like what? Riding through the village on a sheep yelling, 'I'm a pretty princess!'?"

Astrid stared at her plate trying desperately not to smile, but glanced up at you through her eyelashes, "Oh, no, much worse."

Your mouth dropped and your eyes widened, "How could it get any worse?!"

Astrid put her hand over your cup as you reached for it, "Let's just say his dragon, Hookfang, threw him a little too hard. Snotlout thought he was a, quote, 'pretty little unicorn' for about four hours in the middle of the night in nothing but his underwear. Needless to say, NO ONE was happy the next morning."

You stared at her for a moment trying to register the scene in your mind as her smile grew. You burst out laughing and so did Astrid. You laughed so hard you fell out of your chair onto the wooden floor only causing you to laugh harder.

Your father walked in the door at this moment the confusion on his face only increasing yours and your sister's laughing fits. She consequently fell out of her own chair. Neither of you could breathe as you finally started to calm down. Your father finally decided to speak now that you two seemed to be speak again yourselves, "And what would you two be laughing about?"

"Nothing!" you both replied in unison. You two chuckled.

Your father raised an eyebrow, "Does it have to do with the boys?"

You slowly nodded your head and Astrid bluntly blurted out, "Yes."

He stared at his plate for a moment before walking toward the door, "I'll be at the Mead Hall." With that he was gone.

You two looked at each other and laughed. He obviously wasn't ready to deal with two teenage girls. "So, what other stupid things have the boys done?"

You were both still awake when your father came back hours later. He bid you both goodnight before going down to his room.

You sat on Astrid's bed laughing about the dumb things the boys had done, the pranks you'd played, or funny things you'd seen dragons do. "I swear. He really did. The little guy nearly took Tuff's ear off."

"Why did Tuff put butter on his ear anyway?" you asked as you hung upside down off the side of Astrid's bed.

"I think it was some kind of joke from Snotlout, but I wasn't around when he did it, just when he got bitten," Astrid said as she shuffled through some papers in her desk. "Got it!" she exclaimed. She set a small pile papers in your lap, "Tell me if you remember that."

You righted yourself and picked up the papers. It was a story of some kind.

_Two young girls playing by the river found an iridescent stone in the water. It called to them, begging them to come closer and pluck it from the water. The stone was beautiful and shone in many different colors, but the young girls were wary._

_As one girl picked it up, it glowed in reds and oranges and yellows. The other girl wanted to see for herself and took the stone from her twin sister's hands. It glowed blues, and greens, and purples in her hands. Setting the stone back in the water, they searched for another, but they found none. Both girls wanted the stone and went back to the stone that still glowed in the water._

_Plucking it again from the water, the first sister claimed that she had touched it first and it should be hers. The second sister saw this to be unfair. She claimed that since she had seen it first that she should keep it._

_The two took hold of the stone both pulling in opposite directions. They both wanted it, but only one could keep it. As they both held the stone, it changed to white. The beauty of the stone made each pull harder. The second sister's fingers slipped on the wet stone and thus her sister pulled it from her._

_Looking down at the once white stone, it again glowed in reds and oranges and yellows, but that wasn't what the first sister wanted. She wanted the brilliant white stone that it had been only moments ago._

_In her distraction at the stone's changing, her sister grabbed hold again, and again the stone turned white. The girls noticed this and the first sister let go. Looking down at the stone in the second sister's hands, it colored itself in blues and greens and purples once more._

_The two girls smiled at each other. The first sister held the stone again with her sister and yet again it glowed white. They smiled at one another and made a plan. They would break the stone and it maybe it would stay the same._

_The sisters quickly made their way home and found their father's axe. When they each placed a finger on either side of the stone it again turned white. The girls carefully placed the axe between their fingers and slowly started to tap the stone with the axe. Small fragments came from the stone and stayed white. It gave them hope that their plan might work_

_When the stone finally cracked, it separated into two white pieces. The twin girls smiled at each other and each took their piece in their hands admiring it happily._

_The second sister placed the stone down so that she might sweep up the small pieces. When it left her hands all the pieces glowed in her sisters colors. Quickly, she captured it again and the stones turned white._

_The young girls had discovered a magical secret. If one of them would touch their stone, both would glow in her colors, but if they both touched their own stone, it would glow the brilliant white once more. Yet, if neither of them touched it, it was still a beautiful iridescent stone. Each girl kept their stone with them always._

_When they were old enough, they each made them into necklaces. One was held with a gold fastener and chain while the other was made in the same style with silver._

_The first sister loved her new necklace enjoying the way the gold complimented the white, reds, oranges, and yellows perfectly. The second admired hers as well seeing the soft beauty in the ideal match of silver with the white, blues, greens, and purples._

_Each girl made a pact when they were to separate when they were each to marry. If one of them were to need the other, all she needed to do was remove her necklace and the other would find her._

You smiled as you finished reading the story. "Mom used to tell us this story every night before we went to bed."

Astrid nodded, "Yeah, I remember us going to the river to look for our own stone. That was fun."

You chuckled, "Definitely. We wanted to find our own stone. We were dripping wet and freezing, but I remember Mom putting us in her lap in front of the fire and she rocked us to sleep in the rocking chair as she told this story to us for the millionth time." You chuckled thinking about the old memory, but the happiness quickly faded. "That was our last night together before I left with Grandma and Grandpa." You could feel tears come to your eyes, "I think that's one of the few memories I have left of Mom."

She hugged you, "You know, Mom wouldn't tell me that story anymore after you left. She said is was yours and mine and she wouldn't tell it if you weren't there. She promised me that she would again one day when we were together again. A few month before she died, she wrote it down and gave it to me so I wouldn't forget the story."

You held your sister tightly, "I should have come home. It was so stupid and selfish of me to stay away. I only thought of myself and how I didn't want to hurt anymore, but the truth is, it hurt worse to stay away than I was ever willing to admit. I didn't want to see you or Dad because I didn't want it to hurt when I had to leave, but it was so much worse knowing I probably wasn't going to see you again." You bawled into your sister's shoulder wishing you could take back the last ten years, take back the hurt, take back the wasted time and just spend it where you'd known you belonged all along.

Astrid held you tightly letting her tears silently fall down her face. "I wish you would have come home too." She paused for a moment taking a deep breath, "But you know what? I wouldn't trade the days of our childhood for anything. If we had stayed together we wouldn't have done so many of the things we have." She held you at arm's length looking you in the eye. "If you hadn't left, you wouldn't have known that those berries you and Hiccup had been eating were edible. If you hadn't left, you wouldn't have been able to split and set Hiccup's arm and leg." She smiled at you and forced you to make eye contact, "And if you hadn't left, we wouldn't be closer than we ever could have been. We'd probably hate each other if we'd lived together all these years."

You smiled back at her with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Astrid hugged you again, "You aren't just my sister (Name). You're my best friend."

A tear came to your eye again, "Sisters by chance."

"Friends by choice." She chuckled, pulled away and wiped her face, "Well, I think that's enough sappy stuff for one night."

You laughed and wiped your face as well, "Oh yeah, I better be getting to bed. I think we've got a long day of guarding a not-so-bed-ridden friend to make sure he stays that way."

She laughed, "What are you talking about?"

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, "Hiccup's determined to teach me to ride Toothless while he's bed-ridden. He won't be riding for more than a month, and that's not fair to Toothless."

She stared at you, mouth agape and eyes wide. "He's going to teach you to what?! He won't even let _me_ ride Toothless!"

You laughed at her reaction, "I think he still feels bad for terrifying me and probably for getting us stranded."

"He does have a guilty conscience," Astrid laughed.

You smiled, "I guess so. Anyway, I should be getting to bed. Goodnight, Astrid." You stood and walked toward the door as thunder cracked outside.

"(Name)?"

You turned back to your sister, "Yeah, Astrid?"

She tossed a pillow onto one side of the bed and moved over, "Like we used to when we were kids during thunderstorms."

A big smile graced your face, "Now, that's a memory I could never forget." You turned around and put the lights out before hitting Astrid with the pillow and curling up. "Goodnight, Astrid."

She laughed, "Goodnight, (Name)."

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_**Hope I didn't disappoint you guys! I'm loving how each of these chapters seems to get more and more reviews! Hint Hint! I love hearing from you guys! I love hearing your ideas, plus, if I use them I will most definitely give you credit. I need a little insight into what you guys want to see from this story, so drop me a review or even a PM and I will definitely get back to about if I use them or not.**_

_**Shout out time! I love my reviewers so much!**_

_**Adsdragonlover: You know I love to hear from you, but please try not to spam the reviews. I'm not mad, but that was a little overboard. As for the roleplay, we are still looking for canon claims and human character creation is on pause until we get more characters claimed. So far the human characters claimed are Astrid, Hiccup, and Heather as far as I can remember. As for the dragon, it's alright to make it an offspring of Stormfly, but the dragon wouldn't be big enough to carry anyone yet. After all, the baby dragon would only be about 3 at most. I wouldn't think a dragon could carry a person until it's around 10 and that's an undershot.**_

_**Light to Shadow: You always bring a smile to my face with your reviews. I'm glad you're still enjoying it. I know this wasn't what you wanted, but with my plans, I think you'll be happy with 15 especially, though not exactly what you want. Hope you'll keep reading anyway.**_

_**TheTripleThreat: Yep, sisters forever! And even more of that here! I just had to bring up the bond these two girls share. I mean, I love my best friend, who I consider my sister, and this describes our relationship a lot.**_

_**pandalove1: I know it's not finished, and I'm planning to complete it, but right now I have about 30+ total chapters planned. It'll be a long time before this story is finished, but I try to put up a chapter or more a week.**_

_**Thanks for all the love guys! Hope you enjoyed this story, and the story within the story, because I had a ton of fun writing both. I'll get another chapter up soon, but I have class in less than 4 hours and I need to be ready for my first day of the semester. Luv ya guys! (Lol see what I did there? No? Oh, you're no fun!)**_


	14. Opening Up

_**Well, here's the next one! I'm a bit behind. I'm still working on chapter 15 so it might be Monday before I update unless my pounding headache subsides. I've been dealing with it since Sunday morning. I'm so glad to have gotten so many reviews! When I get a new one I practically fangirl squeal! Anyway, if I get 6 reviews FROM DIFFERENT PEOPLE on this chapter, I'll post a new chapter that day. I'm testing you! Do it or I stop! Enjoy this chapter! You'll love me for it!**_

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Something soft smacked you in the face, "Wake up! No sleeping in!"

You sat up and threw your pillow at your sister, "I guess I deserved that, but that still wasn't nice!"

"Neither was you smacking me with a pillow last night, and yes, you did deserve that." She tossed you a small leather-bound journal. "Take notes. It makes Hiccup feel important. Plus, you'll need them later."

You stared at the small book confused, "What are you talking ab-" It quickly donned on you. "Oh no! You're not seriously telling me to let him teach me are you?!"

Astrid nodded as she put on her boots, "Of course! He's giving you the chance to do something he's never let anyone else do except for his dad! Even when his dad did it, he wasn't happy about it! Now, he's practically begging you! Do it! It'll be good for you, good for him, and most importantly good for Toothless!"

"I don't want to!" you whined. She gave you a look. You growled in frustration as you fell back on the bed. Another pillow whacked you in the face. Immediately, you sprung up, "I'm up! I'm up! Sheesh!"

Astrid was poised with another pillow in hand, "Don't make me do it again."

You held up your hands in surrender, "Okay! Okay! I'll do it! No more pillows! A pillow fight is one thing, but fighting with pillows is a _completely_ different story!" You stood up and put your boots on as well as you got ready. "Don't expect me to be the perfect student. I was never very good at anything that didn't involve healing or crafting."

She rolled her eyes, "Neither was Hiccup. He couldn't fight a dragon to save his life, but he's the one that taught all of us to ride one."

You shook your head, "I can't believe I'm going to do this."

"We better get going before Hiccup tries to find his own way down the stairs, because he'll find a way down one way or another." Your sister threw you a satchel.

You opened it to find four slices of bread, some berries, some greens, and some pieces of meat. "What's this for?"

The two of you made your way down the stairs and out into the village. "Well, if I know Hiccup, you two will be working all day. I figured you might get hungry or at least need an excuse to stop for a while," she said with a laugh.

You laughed with her, "Well, I appreciate it. Thank you."

"You can thank me when you ride that dragon for me."

"Deal," you chuckled.

You and Astrid knocked on the door to the Haddock home. Stoick opened it only a moment later, "Good to see you girls. He's awake and ready."

You both smiled at him as you spoke, "Thank you Stoick. We'll make sure he's back here before sunset."

Stoick laughed, "I don't doubt it. He'll have you training 'til . It's all he could talk about after he woke up."

You grimaced, "Looks like I'm in for a long day."

Astrid and Stoick laughed. "Anyway, thank you Stoick. We'll go get him."

"Good luck (Name). You'll be needing it." He gave you both a small smile before he left to take care of his duties for the day.

You both could hear Hiccup's voice from upstairs, "You two are tormenting me on purpose!"

You and Astrid looked at each other for a second before laughing. "If you want us to torment you, then we'll just stay down here for a while. Toothless! Where are you Buddy?" you called up. The Black dragon came bounding down the stairs and tackled you. You noticed he was already saddled. You laughed as you got up and scratched his neck, "Atta boy."

"Hey," Hiccup called, "that's my best friend! You can't just steal him like that!"

"I think I just did!" you yelled back. "I think we'll just be leaving you!"

"You wouldn't do that!" he called back.

"Oh yeah?" You looked at Astrid and winked. "Fine! See you later Hiccup!" You opened the door and Toothless and Astrid walked out. She was laughing and faking a conversation between the two of you as you closed the door.

"That's not fair! (Name), Astrid, don't leave me here!"

You could hear Astrid laughing outside as you bust out yourself, "You are so gullible!"

Hearing a loud thud and grunt, you bolted up the stairs. You stopped at the top to see a smirking Hiccup sitting on the edge of his bed. Looking at the floor you saw a large book a couple feet in front of him, "Looks like you aren't the only one who can pull a prank."

You gave him a murderous look, "That wasn't funny. I thought you had really fallen. If you'd messed up your arm or leg any worse, you'd probably end up needing a new prosthetic."

"Well, if you'd really been allergic to those berries the other day, you might not have made back," he said solemnly.

You smirked, "Alright, you got me there." You put your hands up in surrender before offering your right hand to him, "No more pranks until your healed, from either of us. Deal?"

He reached out his good arm with a halfhearted smile, "Deal."

"Would you two just come down already? I've got chores to do and you two have training," Astrid said walking up the stairs.

You and Hiccup smiled at each other. Carefully he pushed himself off his bed still holding your hand. He was determined to do most of the work himself and wouldn't even let his father bring him down the stairs. He put his arm around your shoulders and you wrapped yours around his waist to keep him steady. He hopped fairly well to the top of the stairs and paused. Astrid stayed only a couple steps down just in case, but he could manage it. You were impressed. He had good balance for the most part as he hopped down the steps only needing you for your shoulder, but he would have done just as well with the wall. When the three of you had reached the bottom of the stairs, Hiccup leaned against the wall breathing heavily. "Thank you, Astrid, (Name). If I had tripped I would have had to lay there 'til my dad got home without you two." He smiled at both of you, but his eyes landed on you for a long moment.

You both smiled at him. Astrid walked toward the front door, "I'm going to go get a few things and meet you three at the academy." She turned and disappeared without another word.

Hiccup leaned against the wall, "The gear is on my bed."

You nodded and ran up the stairs returning shortly with the gear slung over your shoulder, "Ready to go?"

He smiled at you, "Thank you for everything. You don't know how much this means to me."

You shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You're the one stuck with the horrible student." You chuckled and shifted the gear on your shoulder.

He shook his head, "No, that you came to help. I know I pushed you too far last night. I know I made you uncomfortable. Thank you for giving me another chance."

You gave him a soft but warm smile, "Like you said, you're my friend. If you can get over that leg, that arm, my pranks, and my insults, then I can open up to people and give them a chance."

"One step at a time. That's how you overcome any situation," he said with a smirk.

You decided it was time to really open up, do something you didn't normally do. You stepped forward and wrapped your arms around Hiccup. He froze for a moment and then relaxed wrapping his useful arm around you too. "Thank you Hiccup. Thank you for understanding."

He smiled as you stepped back. "Anytime (Name). Step by step, I think you can let people in." He smiled widely as he shifted his weight back onto his leg, "Speaking of steps, or in my case hops, we better get to the academy before Astrid does." He chuckled and held out his arm.

You quickly stepped under it and put yours around his waist again, "You know, I'm putting you on Toothless while we walk back. If I don't, we're going to be walking for hours."

Hiccup feigned hurt, "I take great offense to that. You don't-"

"Think you can handle it and blah, blah, blah, blah. I do, but you are too slow. That, you can proudly take offense to." You pulled the door open and held him up as you closed it behind you.

"If you think you can go faster, why don't we have a hopping race?" Hiccup gave you a mischievous smile.

"Oh, no. You aren't getting hurt again, not on my watch." You called for Toothless who came bounding over. Carefully, you helped Hiccup get situated in the saddle. "We can race, after you're healed. Until then, you're stuck with me walking you everywhere." You started to lead Toothless toward the academy.

Hiccup smirked. "Sounds perfect to me," he mumbled to himself.

You stopped in your tracks for a second before continuing. You glanced over your shoulder catching a glimpse of a red-faced Hiccup. You floundered for a new topic to ease the now awkward tension between the two of you. "So, how long did it take for you to learn how to fly Toothless?"

Hiccup chuckled nervously from behind you, "Well, I had to learn on my own so it took a few weeks. Since I know what I'm doing already, it will probably only take you a week, maybe less if you're pretty good at it."

"Well, I think I can handle it." You walked backwards as you placed your hand on Toothless for guiding directions, "After all, I do have the 'best dragon trainer on Berk' as my teacher."

He stuttered slightly, "As of right now, I think I'm probably in worse position than the twins."

You laughed, "Well, maybe if you had thought through moving that boulder alone we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Hey!"

"It's true! It took _both_ of us to move those boulders before. What made you think you could do it by yourself?" You continued to stare him down.

"Well, um...I...uh...I didn't want to wake you," he said as he looked off to the side avoiding eye contact.

"And why not, huh? You could have saved both of us a lot of trouble." You tried to look him in the eye, but he refused to look at you. You could see his face getting red again. "Well?"

His face was bright red and seemed to be getting worse still, "I thought...well...I thought..."

"Oh, just spit it out already," you said starting to get irritated.

He looked you in the eye for a short moment with a small smile on his red face, "I didn't want to wake you because you looked cute when you were sleeping."

Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped as your heel found a large rock. You fell flat on your back floundering for a response. He did _not _just say what you thought he said. You had heard him wrong. Your mind was playing tricks on you. He didn't like you. He liked Astrid. Sure, they were going through one of those on-again-off-again things, but that didn't mean it wouldn't work out for them.

"(Name), are you okay?" Hiccup asked awkwardly looking for a way to get down from Toothless's back.

You realized how long you had been sitting there, "Oh! Yeah! I'm fine. Sorry, about that." You jumped up quickly and dusted off before you continued walking. Desperately, you hoped he'd drop your previous topic and start a new one. If the day continued to go just as awkwardly, you might either die of embarrassment or end up trying to learn how to fly Toothless by yourself.

* * *

_**Well, shout-out time again!**_

_**TheTripleThreat: I have to confess, I stole that line from a Disney show called **__**Liv and Maddie**__**. I loved the quote and thought it fit them perfectly.**_

_**happymiki: Don't worry! I'm writing! Did you say your brother's a big fan? If so, say thanks for me!**_

_**Adsdragonlover: Glad you liked the stone story. It'll come back later. It's kind of a key piece in part of my plans. Thanks for the complement. Much appreciated.**_

_**Light to Shadow: As always, your reviews make me smile. I will definitely keep writing. This story won't end for a long time. I promise. I've got too much planned, and more if you all decide you want it. ;)**_

_**Anyway, I'll keep working on the next chapter when my head starts to calm down, but I couldn't disappoint you guys by not putting one up. I'll have another chapter up as soon as I can.**_


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